Mein Vollkommener Beschützer
by Star-Struck Inu
Summary: Hiccup is horrified to learn that his tribe will be journeying to a gather with the other 12 Viking tribes, Toothless is even more so when Stoick commands dragons to be left behind. Toothless will not be denied in protecting his rider, no matter what.
1. Bad News

This story was inspired by two of my previous reviewers, MjCally (who started the thought) and AwesomeSonnykun (for cementing it). I hope you all enjoy it. But it is of course dedicated to all of you who read it, cause I love all of you (dramatic weeping), eh moving on.

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT OWN How to Train Your Dragon. The movie is a creation of DreamWorks, and the story a creation of Cressida Cowell. If only I did own it, oh or a real dragon!

**Warnings: **There will be language, and there _will_ be blood. There might be a few maimed and mauled Vikings about; maybe even a few deaths, none a main characters. Also, I am no Viking and I am no Viking buff. The gods mentioned here are the barebones of some of their complex religion and I only am highlighting a few of them. Also, I have no real idea about it, but there must have been a few closer tribes of Vikings, maybe children that had split off to create their own tribe wanting to reconnect with their old one. What ever the case may be, I am an authoress and I will bend the rules as I see fit, muhahahahaha!

**Rating: **This is rated as a very tame T right now, but it will steadily get worse. I will warn you all when it get's too mature and when I move it to the M section.

**Note: **I am terrible at accents! I can't mimic them and I can hardly puzzle how to spell them in fanfics, so if a Viking is talking and it looks like a word might be spelled wrong, its not, it's my sad attempt to capture the sound of the word. I.E kill=keel (try saying it out loud and you might get it)

**Note:** This is a multi-chapter or a two shot! Yay!

Mein Vollkommener Beschützer - My Perfect Protector

I, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III, inhaled the chilled night air as I sat on the wooden pathway that meandered its way up the more elevated areas of the island. From where I was seated my eyes could see the frothy ocean, the docks, and the incredible view of the full moon. Bil, the moon goddess, was lovely tonight in all her silver glory; as gorgeous as ever. I felt tiny every time I viewed the sky, well more tiny than usual; but this was a welcome feeling. The feeling of wonder and amazement at being alive to see such a sight. There have been so many times I could have died. Like that incident with the very upset polar bear that had charged me down when I stumbled, gracelessly as usual, upon her den. Like that other time I _did _find that evil left-foot sock stealing troll and had to answer a riddle or be ate for supper. That time when I was walking down this very wooden pathway and tripped over my own to feet, only to fall halfway down and get stuck on a forgotten jetting spear thrown during a recent dragon raid by the back of my green tunic. I had hung there pitifully for the whole day, too full of embarrassment and humiliation to even consider calling for help. I knew I wouldn't have been able to stand seeing the others laugh at me, sneer at me, and shame my father further. Gobber finally came calling for me, muttering to himself about, "whelp's ne'er around when I nee' the darrrned kid." His voice lilting and rolling the r like his fake tooth that he sometimes tongued around in his mouth.

I remember the ire on his ruddy face as he threw a thick salt-covered rope down and easily yanked me up, like a bitty minnow dangling at the end of his fishing pole. He proceeded to check me over, wallop the side of my head when he found no injuries -he obliviously felt the need to add some- then shoved me off toward his kiln.

Oh yes, I could have died one hundred -no two hundred!- times over before I even _met_ the creature that was, quite possible, the most dangerous of them all. Just our meeting alone should have done me in, it would have been simple for the great beast to snap my head from my neck and gobble me down. The black glossy dragon would probably have found me stringy though, and suspiciously lacking guts more fat- I mean well-rounded Vikings had.

Toothless hadn't though. Yes, I was out of my mind to naively hope that the dragon would have the same tit' for tat' mentality I held as I blindly released him from the bola. Imagine _my_ surprise when he merely turned me deaf for a day and scared my nerves right out of me; instead of ripping me apart. The adrenaline that pulsed through me was so intense, that after the initial scare I was left high and unable to walk even a foot away, my nerves shot; I crumpled into the sweet cool grass and hyperventilated for an hour.

And yes, I was crazy to go back for more. I was crazy to stick out my arm with my fingers stuck into a fish's gills; knowing full well the majestic beast's small but _incredibly_ sharp teeth could take my hand with it. Crazy to try and connect with him, crazy to try help him fly, _crazy crazy crazy! _It's crazy that the most feared dragon in all creation, wanted _me, _an insignificant, puny, underfed human to be his rider. It was an emotion that was hard to explain to the other Vikings, perhaps the closest would be them finding Thor's hammer and that very hammer deciding that they could wield it.

I, to this day, don't know why I felt compelled to release him. I knew for such a long time that if I could just kill _anything_ that my life would get better. That if I killed a dragon I would become miraculously transformed into a hulking "proper" Viking.

It seemed that Odin had other plans for me, because when I looked into those luminescent grass-green eyes, I found out that I was indeed as useless as I had been repeatedly told by my tribe. That green drew me down, down, down and for a moment I felt that _I _was the one trapped. I know I don't always think things through, that may be part of the reason I was always -always _always- _getting into life or death situations; but I know I didn't fully process the thought of releasing the Night Fury until I had cut the last rope.

When those claws had pinned me down and hot flesh that smelled like sulfur and fish puffed over me, I thought that I was going to be seeing Hel(1) very soon, and by soon I meant as soon as the enraged dragon killed me or my heart gave out from fright.

Then he shrieked his dominance to me, as though I was unable to grasp his power -his incredible strength- and he darted away, flying occasionally into trees and rocks.

I felt a smile spread across my chapped lips at the memory. I had been so scared then, of Toothless and of my own tribe; but I was slowly growing more and more aware that their opinions -good now- didn't mean as much as they used too. The few people whose opinions were of importance were the same as always: my dad, Gobber, and every once in a while Astrid's; eclipsing those opinions were none other than Toothless's.

I can't count the many -well I could but it would be much to long- times that someone, didn't matter who, had told me something and I would look to my left at Toothless to see what he thought of the matter.

He was always standing to my left, fully aware that if I fell because of excruciating pain in my leg, I would fall toward my left; right onto his waiting shoulder. I don't know how I could have managed dealing with loosing my leg if it hadn't been for my breathing and protective crutch. He was worse than any mother hen in a chicken coop; his sturdy body only a foot away and ready to catch me at a moments notice.

Too many stairs? No problem, Toothless would nose me and nudge me onto his back and fly me up. Too icy outside, again no problem, Toothless would sweep me off my feet -more like under as he had the nasty habit to come up from underneath me- and carry me willingly; his own sharp claws gouging into the ice.

Some would think that may be I would come to resent such attention but… I loved it. After so long of being brushed off and little positive contact, to have this noble dragon at my beck and call -willing to carry a hundred pound human on his back- was an addicting pleasure. I would like to think that I didn't use the beautiful pitch-black dragon for my own devices, but there were many times I could recall using just his shadow behind me to push through ideas of mine through the council.

There was an inborn fear and desire to kill dragons that had perpetuated through the Viking blood-line, and at the very top of the "hope never show up" was my adorable Night Fury. Even now when coming in from a flight with Toothless, a wavering cry of, "Get down! It's a Night Fury!" would resound through the village. A year later and they were still afraid that the intelligent beast beneath my saddle would go feral on me and in turn them.

Perhaps Toothless might someday, indeed, return to his more feral mannerisms, but he would _never _kill me. It wasn't a confidence of, "he wouldn't dare kill me," but rather, "He is too _protective_ over me to ever kill me." In a part of my heart that is kept under a padlock and key I will admit only to myself that if Toothless ever wanted to leave this island, all he would have to do is walk to my side and rumble at me; a quick motion with his head pointing at the saddle. If it were just for a ride around the island or to another country I have never, and would never, be able to turn down a ride _anywhere_; because I mean come _on, _who wouldn't want to soar above the clouds?

A gurgling croon attracted me from my reminiscing, and I turned to look at the face peering at me, worry shining from Toothless's large eyes. I felt that strange emotion, affection I do believe, overwhelm my poor defenseless heart and I stretched out an arm to enclose his neck in a hug. Those expressive eyes closed and he rumbled -I felt it all the way down my back- and he curled up more completely. Toothless was the reason I was not cold tonight, he was also the reason I was even _here_ at all. My gratitude bubbled over and I scratched at one fin-like ear, his purring increased and the black scaled hide rumbled in appreciation.

I had to tell Toothless sometime, but I hadn't the foggiest clue how I should go about it, "Hey Toothless, what's up? Nothing much? Good, well I have to go to a gathering in the south and you can't come with me. Right, now let's go fishing!"

I don't think that would go over well. Let me backtrack a little.

This whole mess started when a golden eagle came to the island with a note attached to its feathered leg. This caused quite a stir in and of itself, considering we aren't exactly a friendly tribe -not exactly a group you want to borrow a cup of sugar from- and receiving any kind of mail is enough to cause a buzz.

The eagle was obviously not happy in any form of the word, tired, and irritable from the cold. It bore a very familiar insignia and my father put out an arm for the eagle to land upon. He took the note and scowled at it; not necessarily because of what it said, but more because, well- we Vikings aren't very strong in our reading skills. Beating up anything that threatened us -and those that didn't- was a strong suit… reading not so much. After a few moments of puzzling his way through the note -probably written by the elder of _that_ tribe- his face broke out cheerfully, "My comrades and friends! We have received an invitation for a Vikings gather in the south, hosted by my brother!"

Amongst the cheers, I became quite pale - well more pale than usual- and felt my stomach plummet into my foot and my not-foot. The last gather had been eight years ago when I was six years old, and it had been so horrible. As a child I was even more exuberant in my non-Viking habits and my father had paid quite a price.

There were only maybe twelve Viking clans in existence to our knowledge, and when a gather occurred there were many contests and festivities, followed by awards given out to tribes. The gather before the one I had attended had been when my father's tribe had won the over-all prize, a fine strapping bull, a prized pregnant heifer; a few sows, and an amazingly well crafted axe. The prizes were lusted over, mainly because most villages survived of mutton and lamb. To have a breeding bull and a heifer could mean the start of a cattle herd, and sows would mea -Oh dear Odin it would mean I would have bacon!

Winning the prize had been just another braid in my father's beard(2), and he had preened under the praise. To be so successful so soon after taking over the tribe; that he was so powerful and surely would have many sons; all in his spitting image. Then it went downhill… after returning to the gather eight years later with me. There were contests with the elder Vikings and… there were contests for the children of the Vikings.

A complete and utter failure at everything contest I was put in dragged my father's tribe down from first to third. They never said out loud that it was me who had caused the drop in status, but I knew inside without needing a word.

The cheers swelled in a disaccorded crescendo and my vision began to swim. How would they see me now? Now that I had lost a foot and had not grown any? I felt Toothless suddenly shove his head under my arm and nuzzle my chest, no doubt the protective dragon could smell the scent of his sweat from the fear of seeing -ugh- _them_.

Them, those little terrors that had shoved him in the mud, that hit and chased him till he was half-unconscious from the endeavor, that had pulled his hair and called him a "litt'l Loki" (3).

I shuddered, breathing heavily against the smooth scales beneath my cheek, that week had been so terrible that I had just hidden the last day on one of the ships; curled up beneath a bunch of crates praying to Hlin(4). When I finally flicked my gaze back up to look to my father, his own blue eyes were drilling into me; sorrow in their depths… for me? He boomed out then, "I have one command for the gather! No tribe yet knows abo' Hiccup's slaying o' the Queen,- All other sounds except for deafening roar of Hurrahs and my father waited patiently until it died down, "-and I think it be best if, if the drragons stay here."

All eyes had been turned to gauge my reaction, and I certainly didn't dissapoint. I found I couldn't stand any longer; I collapsed into the dirt on my rear end and stared at my dad. I didn't look with a glare or in anger, after all I understood why he would want to keep our having pet dragons thing under wraps. Vikings still had a lot of distrust in the dragon kind, and being around a creature bigger and meaner than Vikings, tended to irritate them. I was just… a little shocked; it wasn't that I had _wanted_ to be recognized for my "achievement" per say, every eye in the entire tribe had seen Toothless's and my flight; it was said over and over again that I was a hero, but I…

I didn't want to be persecuted by all the tribes… _again. _An earsplitting shriek of rage pierced my ears and I looked over to see Toothless sitting back on his hind legs, his wings straight up and whipping his long tail. I scrambled to my feet trying to calm down the dragon who was hissing like a huge cat, "Toothless easy, it's alright! It is just a week-" The words sounded as false to me as to my dragon and they left a bitter taste as they passed my lips.

My father sighed, one of a man who had thought carefully over this -even before the note- "Toothless, You know as much as I do, th' other tribes arre not being ready to accept the idea o' dragons."

Toothless let out another shrill screech and leapt up, his front claws clutching -impossibly gentle- at my shoulders. He was more careful then I had expected after such a violent protest and the ground was rapidly falling away from me. I didn't scream, there was no need; Toothless wouldn't hurt me. I was worried though, without me in the saddle he wouldn't be able to fly up far nor for long. I heard my father sputter madly and his scream barely reached us, "You best be brrringing my son back you black devil!"

I heard Toothless snort at this and his wings worked effortlessly with the wind and we soared higher. I felt his front claws toss me up and his wings twitched with the winds as he fell. I fell only a short distance but it left me breathless and charged with adrenaline. I tossed back my head as the wind whipped at my hair and with a oomph, I landed neatly at the base of Toothless neck. We were both falling then, spinning slightly as the ground neared us. I could hear my normally unshakable father's voice yelling, "If ya' keel him because you can't go on the journey, I wil' hunt ya down beast and use your heartstrings as bootlaces!"

We continued to fall as I struggled to get my prosthesis into the stirrup specially made for it. Only feet from the ground now and the crowd split in terror as we neared them, but that was when I heard my damn prosthesis click into its niche. I pushed slightly down to snap the tail-fin out and then we were pulling up toward impossible blue, my stomach had left permanently on vacation and I felt my mouth let out a yell of passion as we soared back up.(5)

I slumped down and let Toothless lead us to where I knew we would end up. The little valley when I had first _really_ met him. My fingers drew little symbols in his back as we glided along. I had never felt silk before, but my father mentioned my mother's wedding dress having a silken bow. I remember the soft look in his eyes as he remembered her and his hands mimed rubbing across the material; he had said that only my mother's dark red hair had been softer than what his fingers had felt.

I think that flying must feel like rubbing against silk; smooth, soft, and almost sinfully luxurious. I could fly for as long as Toothless would be willing to take me, I kneww he wouldn't object to taking me anywhere as long as I was flying on him. I knew that he must have visited some amazing places, some that could not be reached by those that had no wings with which to fly; I hope to see them someday.

I glanced up as we began descending and I smiled brightly as we landed carefully near the lake. I slid off his strong back and winced as my knee spasmed with pain; I grabbed at the tail that was already raised to balance me until the pain passed. My eyes had clenched involuntarily at the agony and as I opened them my vision was filled with Toothless worried -so adorable- face. He warbled at me, his voice sounded upset. I smiled tenderly at him, I petted his smooth face. "It's alright, Toothless I'm fine. He pulled his head back for a moment and gurgled at me turning his back to the direction of the village, his eyes hard. I knew what he was thinking and sighed deeply.

"Toothless, the others don't understand, one thing added on to a long list of many, and I can't _not _go. Unless I'm on a raid, which is highly unlikely for me, I must attend or my father will lose face."

Toothless hissed and spat, but he understood human words. Suddenly, he perked up and groaned at me. He flapped his wings and with his limited flying capabilities he perched upon the large boulder behind me. The handsome creature opened his eyes wider and stared at me unnervingly; making sure to know that he was watching me, then jerked up, looked to his right and darted behind the boulder out site. The goofy dragon then pranced back over to me and sat down -obviously very proud of himself- his ears spreading out and twitching; then he gave me that absolutely adorable toothless smile. How could such a puny Viking like me ever find a dragon, of all things, adorable? Well, it wasn't hard if you had a dragon like Toothless.

"Hübscher(6), it will be very hard for you to follow behind me if you can not fly," I smiled at him full of good humor.

All at once the perfect dragon -or he had been until _I_ screwed him up- drooped, but a moment later he mimed ducking down low to the ground and being very still. I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the sight of a dragon capable of killing polar bears playing charades. Toothless didn't much appreciate the laughter and playfully knocked me off my feet with a neat sweep of his tail. His playful was not any less painful. I struggled to catch my breath as I looked up at the upside down face of my dragon. "Do you really think you can hide you silly Drache?"(7)

The black face nodded furiously and his eyes tossed me a sly look as he hunkered down in the grass and stalked toward me, showing off his "being unnoticed" skill I suppose. I beamed at him, and laughed when he pounced, tenderly pawing me this way and that like a cat with a ball of yarn. I shoved him away with a giggle -uh a manly chuckle- and heaved a sigh. "Hübscher, if you think you can hide, I'll sneak you on the ship. It will be uncomfortable, you know?"

Toothless threw out his chest and bugled a triumphant note, I cracked up into giggles again.

So now together we sit in the dark, waiting until the last Viking left the ship. It was late and most would be going to sleep, even though the entire village except for the more elderly -who were very upset at being considered too old to leave to a gather- would be leaving just in a few hours at dawn.

I shifted, waking up Toothless who had been dozing. "They've left, ready buddy?"

Toothless gave a soft roar, the sound as always sounding as though it were underwater to me, and rolled over so I could reach his back. After being securely strapped in, I patted the side of his neck.

With a breath-snatching leap we were sailing down toward the docks; I had to cover my mouth to keep from keening in intense joy as we left the wooden pathway. Toothless circled once over the ship I would be sailing on for the journey and darted down, I knew we wouldn't be seen, after all my Night Fury had only been seen because of me -always something because of me-.

When we landed I slid down more easily, my tweaking of the prosthesis had allowed a spring to absorb the shock of walking or from hitting the ground when I leapt from the saddle. I was pleased with it so far, it took a lot of strain off my knee and with the spring, I no longer felt as much pain from walking. Now if I could invent something that stopped this island from being so damned wet -the cold making my stump ache- I would be golden. It was strange, though I only lost my foot, the pain seem to start in the shin and radiate up to my knee; I couldn't quite understand it, but Gobber assured me it was normal.

We -such an odd but perfectly perfect pair- both crept along carefully through the decks of the ship, and we went down, down, down into the hold and I moved over to the corner where the dried fish was already packed away in crates ready for the three day journey.

Behind the tower of crates to heavy for even Vikings to move, was a pile of soft furs I had placed earlier when no one had been watching. Not very hard when everyone was buzzing in such excitement and hardly paying attention to anything except gossip and who was going to win what.

My father had decided to at least mention that I _had_ killed the dragon that took my foot -which I actually _did_ do- for my own safety; and though the tough red-headed Viking would never say it, it was so I would not continue to be considered even more of a screw-up.

The story could not be conceived as a fake story, because the whole village had seen me kill a dragon, and they all promised that nothing would be said about the Queen, nor would anyone let slip that dragons were now considered pets to the tribe the farthest north.

Toothless settled down neatly, having to bear with not burning himself a warm circle, but he understood that if he wanted to follow me, he would have to not burn the ship down into tinders.

I gave him one last soft smile and patted his head, "Gute Nacht mein Teufel(8)." Then I made to leave, I was stopped by a tail-fin and pulled back until I was pressed to his side. I laughed and struggled a bit, "Toothless I have to go, if I am not in my bed when dawn comes my father will know what I'm up to," I paused at that, "If he doesn't already."

Toothless gurgled at me again, purring and growling all in one action. "Not even for a few minutes mein Teufel."

The glossy head rose up to stare at me and he moaned sadly, I petted him softly, "I'll be alright, the journey is only a few days and I'll be down here everyday to feed you."

Toothless seemed to think this over before snorting and slowly raising his tail, letting me slip past. He crooned as I left before he curled back up, my last sight of him for the night was one very depressed dragon.

Morning came early, much to my ire. I remember my father singing an old sea shanty as he clanged and banged out in the main room of the cottage. I sighed quietly, not very eager to leave the warmth of my bed. I felt the usual pain of my leg, and it felt like someone was trying to rip it off all over again. Gritting my teeth until they ached, I slowly unclenched my muscles and rolled out of the bed. I hissed at the cold and grabbed my leggings. I hated mornings.

After fully dressing, grabbing my travel pack, and looking in a burnished shield to make sure my hair was somewhat manageable -Vikings didn't care much about physical hygiene, obviously, but they did like to grow and twist their hair- and stepped out to greet my father just as he was hauling on his own pack.

"Good morning son!" He boomed with zealousness, I gave him a weak smile in return, "Morning…dad."

He pulled back slightly and gave me a once-over, "Now son, I know you'r disappointed abo' not takin' your dragon, but it's for the best."

I sighed and responded back quietly, "I know dad."

Being a big gruff Viking he patted my shoulder -hard enough to nearly knock me over- awkwardly. Displays of affection from him were minimal at best, though Gobber told me my father was in tears when Toothless had brought me back after the battle.

Together we walked outside… into sheer chaos. Vikings were everywhere making their final preparations, even more were found next to the head of their dragon and whispering to them; most likely good byes. Unhappy cries rose into a bedlam of noise and utterly frantic motions/

Snotlout was walking up the path toward the ships and saw us up the stairs. "Hey Hiccup! Morning!" He walked up cheerfully.

I watched, half-amused in his change of attitude ever since dragon training and half-enviously, he moved with such speed and ease. I smiled back and murmed back a hello. I still had not been able to get over my self-trained trait of talking softly. Snotlout didn't take it personally and slapped a hand on my shoulder. Was there a manual around that said if you are a male Viking and greeting another male Viking, you must break other male's shoulder with good natured grin?

"Good morning Leader Stoick," Snotlout said in a subdued fashion -weird to see him in such a way- bowing his head slightly to my father.

"Good morning laddie," his tone good natured.

"Uh, just wanted to ask you a question sir," the brunette seemed reluctant to continue on.

"And that'd be?"

"Uh we can't take any dragons along right?"

My father leveled a gaze at him, "That's right."

Snotlout toed his boot in the dirt, "Not even a little Terror?"

A face peeked over his shoulder and made a chirruping sound, before purring down his arm and looking up as cutely as possible.

"Not," my father leaned in, "even the tinnies' Terror, you hear me boy?"

Snotlout leapt back into a straight backed posture, "Yessir, stupid question sir. I'ma, I'm gonna go now." And he beat post haste toward the shipping yard, hugging and cuddling the tiny terror the entire way.

I felt a little more fondness for Snotlout, to ask such a question to my father and to dote on his dragon in such a way. I followed my father's massive body as he left the cottage -a little more slowly then him of course- down the stairs and toward the ship we'd be sailing on.

My father looked up at the gray sky and whispered a prayer to Njörðr.(9)

I stood in front of the gangplank and echoed his plea.

________

Please review!

Uh that was tough… next chapter expect a lot of technical shipping terms (so not looking forward to that) because Vikings make their living on the seas so they need to know what is what.

Okay, so the first chapter is over, the second will be soon. I hope you all enjoyed it, now for the notes.

1) Hel, the goddess of death

2) I tried to think of a phrase close to "just another feather in his cap"

3) Loki is considered to be a god of lies and deceit. He is can transform into any creature and any gender. He is hated for being the main force behind the killing of Baldur the most beloved of the Norse gods -though he didn't physically kill Baldur personally-

4) Hlin goddess of protection

5) This paragraph was written purposely to sound quick and rushed. I wanted to reflect on Hiccup's mind probably not functioning fully in the heat of a flight

6) Hübscher- this means Handsome One in German

7) Drache- German for dragon

8) Gute Nacht mein Teufel- this means Good Night my devil in German

9) Njörðr- this is the Norse god of the sea

Many German tribes can trace their heritage back to Denmark and Sweden. If you want to know more google or bing it.

Please leave a review, I enjoy constructive criticism, but I adore hearing nice things about my fic!

Stay tuned for more, I'm thinking about maybe turning my story "His First Love" into a two-shot. Let me know what you think.


	2. Eine lebensgefährliche Reise

The very first thing is thank you to all my reviewers, I'd love to shout out to all the anonymous reviewers, I can't send you a pm like I'd like, but know I appreciate your opinions!

Second, now I'm not trying to make it seem like I've suffered, but I want all of you to know what an incredible amount of work went into this chapter. First off, I have _no_ clue about anything on a ship. If you asked me what port side and lee side were, I would probably point you toward the observation deck. If you asked me where the helm was, I'd probably point you to the bowsprit. So I had to read up a lot. Also I finally found a dependable and very neat site that told me more about a Viking's everyday life and the typical jobs for who. Tuscanyue (gave me a great idea for another fic!) will be pleased to know that that story will be posted after this chapter is. (Yes _another_ fic hehe)

And yes, another answer as to why I'm using German. I feel that the gruffness of the language complements the nature of the tribe, also I know that the earlier generations (that we see in HTTYD movie) are most likely Scandinavian, but that really only means that they are NORTH GERMAN. There are differences, but are quite similar; point in case is I will continue to use this language, hope it doesn't bother you all too much (smile)

If you are an avid sailor, be merciful to my poor unschooled soul! Find comfort in the fact I did not use wikipedia, and that I studied a bit for this chapter. (deep sigh) So let's get on to the chapter!

If you all are beginning to question where the adults are...well it's a vacation, what do most teens want to do; hang out with friends, or hang out with their parents/adults? Idk, usually I wander as far away as possible, they're... kind of strange, but maybe that's just me hehe.

Mom: "Star? Star, how do I send an e-mail?"

Me: (sigh) Again mom, we are in a moving car, your laptop does not get signal... now if you had an internet ready phone you could."

Dad: "Phones can send e-mail?!"

Me: (headwindow)

Also I apologize for not making my flash-backs more clearer, but it is a small peeve of mine to just have "_flash back" _randomly in the story. I'll put a solid line in from now on to indicate a scene change, if it is a dotted line, then it will mean a flashback.

THANK YOU TO BASSCLONE13, who is my new and wonderful beta for this story!

**Disclaimer: Do NOT own! WISH I DID!**

**Warnings**: No human blood yet, or not much of it anyway. I think there will probably be some dragon blood (and you'll find out whose dragon's blood later on in the story -it's not who you think it is!-

**Rating: **Still a very tame T, it might get a little, um, untamed later on in the chapter; depends on your definition.

**Note: **Bear with me, this is going to be a _long_ ride (the entire story, not the boat ride), expect more gods and more German! Oh, and did anyone else notice that the Dragon Training Squad had less of an accent then their parents? And… that the tribe that Hiccup belongs to is named "hairy hooligans"? You can be sure I am _not_ using that!

**Note: **Most Vikings used long boats, not the sailboats we saw in the movie. Usually, Long boats were manned by people rowing the boat, the largest being Busse ships, which were 45 meters long and fit with 34 spots for rowing. It is unsaid whether the boat design I'm using (your typical pirate ship) was used for longer journeys with more passengers.

Chapter 2: Eine lebensgefährliche Reise (A Perilous Journey)

I never considered myself a terrific sea-warrior, I'm not much of a warrior anyway, but I had always thought I'd be able to at least _not_ get so terribly seasick. I wasn't seasick at all until our tribe was actually underway, out in farther and rougher waters; but now… now I was glued to the beginning of the large bowsprit praying to Njörðr and Eir(1) for my stomach to stay in my body where it should be.

Every toss on each climatic wave caused bile to burn the back of my throat, leaving the most detestable flavour I'd ever had the displeasure of tasting; including the occasional hacked up piece of fish from Toothless. I could feel Tuffnut's sympathetic glance as he held his own sisters bound and braided tails from her face as she spewed her breakfast over the railing off the starboard(2) side. She was holding up about as well as I was -barely alive- and she was certainly as miserable as I was.

Ruffnut was obviously deeply embarrassed about the whole matter, for she had never had such troubles when she was a child, but I guess after traveling strictly by air for a year had put her off her sea legs.

I sighed heavily as I felt the sickness recede enough for me to turn away from the water and rub my face dry from the salty tang of the sea, wincing as the said salt rubbed my face raw. I eyed the strong ropes above me that attached the staysails to the foremast, watched as the seagulls -a constant pest to the Vikings that detested the birds releasing their bowels over their heads- rested lazily on the yard and sail(3) of the main mast.

My vision was blocked as Astrid stepped in front of me, I yelped and jumped back; regretting it immediately as I overbalanced and nearly fell into the icy water. Ironically, it was my prosthesis that saved me, the metal curve catching on the netting rolled up and holding extra sails.

I gazed up at the very amused blonde girl, she was laughing sardonically at me even as she hauled me back up; her smile after soothed away the ever lurking hurt of scorn. With her feet firmly planted, bodying swaying with the steady rocking of the ship she looked me over, "Same old Hiccup huh? You'd think that saving our village would help to stop you from jumping like a skittish colt."

The words were cheerful even as I felt my face go bright red, "Well, uh, yeah still waiting for it to kick in… um, did you uh, need something?" I slapped myself mentally, why did I always sound like I was dazed and confused?

Silently, the Viking girl held out a bucket of fresh water complete with a wooden ladle. "Oh! May Eir bless you Astrid!" I reached for the ladle like a drowning man; eager to wash out my mouth and re hydrate from my day long retching.

As I washed out my mouth I observed Astrid pulling out a second ladle from her belt and walking over to Ruffnut. Tuffnut backed away as the two girls "bonded" and strolled over to me; his body moving with the ship to make it seem like he was rolling to me.

Abruptly, I dry retched over the side of the railing, nearly choking and simultaneously nearly dropping the pail of water in my haste. The tall blond behind me snatched the falling bucket out of the air, saving the precious clean water from hitting the tar-soaked deck.

"Come on now, despite what my sister says, I do bathe everyday!"

I wish I could tell the exasperated boy that it was the motion of him walking - the urk, rolling- that made me sick, but I didn't trust myself to pull back yet enough to tell him so. A ragged yell from my right came up, "Don't listen to a word he says, he stinks worse than our Zippleback's gas."

I grinned at Ruffnut's quip and Tuffnut's answering protest of, "What? I- I do not! We all know you smell worse than I do, so that must mean you smell like a Nightmare's morning breath!"

If Ruffnut made a reply, I didn't hear it. I was much too busy hanging back over the side of the ship; the roar of the boat's keel splitting the waves drowning everything else out.

I felt a toughened hand patting at my back gently, but gently for Vikings meant mild bruising. "It's alright kleiner(4), the sickness will wear off after you get your sea legs back. Too much flying dragons about and not enough riding ships around."

He stated this so proudly I could feel it pulsing from his hand up my back; the appendage moved away after one last pat and leaned down so we could see emerald iris to brown iris. He leaned in and spoke in a conspiratory whisper, "Between you and me, I think your Night Fury smells better than her," he nodded back in his sister's direction. I felt a smile crack my chapped lips, only to watch as the boy was grabbed by the scruff of his vest and slapped upside the head - Ruffnut apparently began her journey to good health through random acts of violence- before placing her hands on her hips, "That's because I heard you!"

Astrid smiled sweetly and then tossed the wooden ladle with deadly accuracy at the blond's head, "And that's for everything else."

Then the two blonde girls walked off arm linked in arm, talking about the latest weapons crafted by Gobber. With a weak -and rather unmanly- moan, Tuffnut sank over the metal railing and gasped for air while holding his aching head. "Oww," he whined, "She must have dragon hearing to match her dragon butt."

I _did _laugh this time, and leaned away from the freezing water -great, I can't feel my face- and shuddered. "I hope she doesn't hear you this time, she probably will throw you over the side of the ship."

"Nah, she'll just be madder 'n a Terror that's dinner was forgotten. I'm not afraid of that-" His face paled as he remembered the last time he underestimated a Terrible Terror.

"Maybe just a little," his acorn brown irises twinkling in good humor.

It was about this time that I spied the familiar brunette crop of Snotlout, who was picking his way carefully over to us, mindful of the life-ropes that ran hap hazardly about the deck. "Hey Kumpel(5), how's the sickness? Still puking?"

I rolled my eyes, even though I was in quite a good mood, crass about summed up the entire lot of my people; even the women could send most drunkards scurrying when they started spitting out vulgarities.

"I'm, ugh, fine Snotlout. What are you doing out here? I thought you were still showing your battle scar to everyone for the fifth time?"

He, in his defense, had the decency to color at that remark. He puffed out his muscular chest and let out a harrumph, "It's a beautiful scar, one that should be shown off at every occasion, for now I am a man!"

I tried my best, my absolute best, to keep a straight face, but I am only a human and it would take a god's reserve not to laugh a little at his self-worshipping pose.

Snotlout did not appreciate the jibe and latched onto my neck with the crook of his elbow; my nose thanking Baldur(6) that it was not jammed into the burly boy's armpit.

"Now Tuffnut," Snotlout started in a conversational manner. To which Tuffnut grinned, "Yes, oh great Snotlout?"

"What do you think should be this small Viking's punishment for insulting such a beautiful and perfect Viking such as me?" I could hear the laughter in the large boy's voice, it he himself didn't believe what he was saying.

"Hmmm," Tuffnut pressed his palm against his chin and thought hard -I know because I smelled something burning- and then shrugged, "I think he should have a noogie strong enough to start smoke.

Snotlout hummed at that in agreement, "Yes Tuffnut, I think that would be best too."

And thus, I received a nasty headache and a slightly thinned patch of hair to accompany my upset stomach. When I was finally released from the two larger boys I fled jokingly. Pretending -whose pretending anymore?- to be afraid of them and fleeing for my life -and hair-.

The ship was not incredibly long, but it was about a good thirty meters(7) long and about 15 meters wide; throw in one fake leg and not much stamina to begin with and I had myself a nice little journey.

About halfway down the deck I spotted the bulky form of Fishlegs, eyeing the murky water warily. "Hey, um, Fishlegs." I muttered shyly.

The large boy turned to look at me, his hazel(8) eyes lighting up when he saw me.

I knew that I was going to be considered somewhat of a hero for my talent with dragons, but sometimes Fishlegs and even Snotlout -yes the same Snotlout that had rubbed my head raw- took it to another level. Fishleg's was always dying for me to call a -still- semi-feral dragon down to the ground and keep it quiet while he took measurements, muttering to himself all the while.

Snotlout just wanted to genuinely be good around dragons, ever since he had tamed down Fireworm -they actually much closer than most Vikings were willing to become to their own beasts- he wanted to learn more. I tried to tell him that I myself, was still learning, and what I knew currently was because of all my time spent with Toothless, but I just couldn't bear to do it. After all, I had waited for so long to be noticed by all of them -the DTG(9)- that I wanted them to continue to like me. So if that meant acting like some great elder whose secrets were to be divulged over years and years; I think… that I can cope with that.

"Hiccup! Hey guess what? I was just looking over into the ocean and thought I saw a Thunder Drum -jaw strength 15 and 13 speed- but then, like, I realized that it was too cold here. Then, I thought that maybe it was a new breed like a Thunder Drum that could go into colder waters, but then I thought about how Thunder Drum's like dark, deep riptides, and that made me think that they wouldn't mind the cold-" he took a breath while I blinked in disbelief, "and that caused me to worry so I'm watching to make sure none sneak up on us!"

I smiled weakly at him while nodding my head. I knew he was just as shy as me, but his was exhibited completely opposite of my own manner. I patted his huge forearm -bemoaning the fact it was level with my chest- and told him he was doing a great job. If only I had known that he really _had_ seen something, and it was no Thunder Drum.

Just that little praise caused him to beam like Dellingr(10), and go back to studying the water, his shoulders set and back straight. I felt guilty immediately at not paying real attention to him, was I not like him? We were both shy, both out of sorts with our "peers"; where did I suddenly get the right to cast him off in such a manner?

I wasn't going anywhere in any hurry, and my guilt was spurning me to right my self-conceived wrong; so I stepped up beside him and stared out over the water.

The sight of the dark gray water made me cringe as it brought back the lurking feeling of sickness. To distract myself I mentioned the first thing off the top of my my head, "So it seems Toothless has grown another two inches longer."

The excitement coming off the boy next to me could have been cut with an axe. "Really?! That's so awesome! I need to make a note of it right now in my abridged copy of "The Dragon Manual" that's in my berth!"

He took off with speed I didn't think was possible for his size and left me to my thoughts; which were mostly of Toothless anyway. I was worried about him down in the hold; did he have enough water? Was he comfortable? Was he hungry? Was he… as lonely as I felt right now? Even surrounded by my peers, I felt isolated and unable to be truly comfortable. Hmm, "I wonder if it's permanent?" I asked forlornly, it would be quite sad for me -of human origins- if I forever felt more comfortable around creatures that could swallow me whole if startled them.

"Is what permanent?" a questioning voice startled me.

I whirled around tensed, only to see Tuffnut by himself, holding the water bucket from earlier; empty now.

"Don't _do that_!" I hissed at him, reminding myself violently of Toothless when he was upset. The blond jumped back and raised his empty hand, palm facing me. "Ea-sy Night Fury jr."

I felt more guilt at such an outburst, what Viking hissed like a startled barn cat? Actually, what Viking was snuck up in such a manner? I looked around, well it wasn't like we two were the _only _ones onboard. Currently right here in the area I was standing... there were a suspicious number of older Vikings leaning in closer; hoping I divulge "secret dragon stuff".

I rolled my eyes at them, for Vikings they were quite gossipy. "I'm sorry, I- I'm just a little tired," and after muttering that to the lanky boy, I turned back to the water.

"Oh yeah, still sick?"

I bit my tongue from spitting out anything rude, after all he was just concerned and I didn't know why I was so agitated. "Yeah, I'm still, um, feeling sick you know?"

He seemed to stand up straighter and gave a huge laugh, "Well, then I'll just have to take your mind off the water!"

I felt myself jerked from the edge of the railing and pulled after the blond. He seemed mindful of the fact I had a limp and it hurt still to walk very far. I didn't know exactly what Tuffnut thought he could do to magically heal sea sickness, but I had been like this for the last day and a half. I would accept _any_thing idea to distract myself. I followed him down the stairs -he had his empty hand up behind him incase I had a jinx attack- and he deposited the bucket on a table set up where food was ate.

I knew the teen was taking me on a path to the hold, and I started panicking after we descended the last of the stairs to the hallway that led into where the cargo was kept. His brown eyes watched occasionally, even giving a wink as he pushed open the door, I snapped a hand out and grabbed his wrist, "Uh ,you now what would be great right now? How about we play a round of Hnefnatafl?"(11)

As we walked inside I was about to cut him off, when I saw the other people in the room. Astrid, Ruffnut, Snotlout, and even Fishlegs were all lounging on boxes here and there that were strewn about the large hold.

I blinked slowly as Astrid looked up and grinned at me. The pretty girl jumped from her tower of boxes and walked over, "Hiccup! Tuffnut found you!"

"About time!" His sister remarked from her own lazy prostration, her head resting on her covered forearm.

Tuffnut scowled, "Hey why don't you go scouting all over this boat next time and we'll see how long you take to find him!"

She smiled dreamily down at him, "Well I don't mind if I do."

I smiled nervously back, and Astrid laughed, guiding me by my arm to sit on a down-turned crate in the middle of their circle; oh geometry, another not-so-great subject for us younger Vikings -yet our ships strangely turn out great-.

As I sat down, and watched as Astrid jumped up agilely back to her position high up on the crates. Snotlout cleared his throat and my gaze flashed back to him.

"Right I would now like to call to order a meeting of Us Wonderful Young Vikings Against Boredom to order!"

"I still think we should be called the Awesome Six," Tuffnut grumbled.

Ruffnut snickered to his left, "That is such a stupid name."

"You're a stupid name!"

"No you are!"

"No you're just stupid," Tuffnut announced victoriously.

With a scream of rage Ruffnut threw herself down and knocked Tuffnut off his crate, the two of them rolling exactly toward where Toothless was hiding. Speaking of Toothless, I could see his incredibly green eyes peering out from behind a pyramid of crates, his eyes bright with joy. He looked like he might pounce at any minute over the large stack of crates and I made "stay" motions with my hands.

Fishlegs turned to look at me in the middle of one, sheepishly I turned it into a stretch and whistled while looking up and the oak wood above me. The hold was not far below the Cabin berth spaces and above that the deck. Very little light from the high portholes shone in making the place seem quite dark.

While Tuffnut and Ruffnut continued to fight like a cat and dog after the same bone, Astrid produced a candle and a crude torch. Fire making was something everyone -yes they trusted me with fire, pity them greatly- had to learn. She took her trusty axe from her back and pulled a block of flint from a pouch on her belt and struck it. All at one light flooded the room and she called to Snotlout, "So meeting task-master, what are we discussing?"

Snotlout obviously has never been the receiver of very much sarcasm in his life considering the way he flushed at her words with pride and pushed on, "We have been on this ship for a day and a half now," oh please don't remind me, "and we must find a way to keep us from dying from the lack of doing anything!" He finished all of this with a rather dramatic air pump, and I found a smile fighting its way past the discomfort of sea sickness. I stood up and moved toward where Toothless was, he was seconds away from tearing through the crates, secrecy be damned, to get over to me.

I looked up as I eased myself down on the crate where I could feel Toothless nuzzle my back through a window in the boxes, aware of the group's multiple stares. "What? Its, um, more comfortable here! For my leg, see?" And with that I propped my left leg up onto another crate.

They turned away, all of them at once -even Astrid!- arguing at once at what would be considered fun, and I used the distraction to slip the last little way behind the wall of crates. Toothless was ready for me and he uncurled enough for me to squirm into his side; sighing as the wing and tail re-wrapped around me. Even if I had to "re-appear" a few minutes from now, a few minutes dozing against Toothless's familiar smelling hide was bliss. I drifted, the feeling of sickness finally leaving as I hummed from being so comfortable. I felt rather than heard the black dragon's purring, and curled up more.

I woke to the entire ship being thrown off kilter. Sounds of crates smashing against the side of the hold; and screams causing me to try to spring up. I found that when a Night Fury -not mentioning any names, _erumTOOTHLESSerum,- _was upset about something; they tended to hold on to their valuables with an iron grip.

Toothless had me pinned, he was sitting up with me resting against his belly. His front forearms pressing me to his chest. His lovely wings were unfurled and half-cupped around me, his tail blocking my view.

He was hissing and spitting in rage and I was so confused. I had fallen asleep, I know that but it was dark and there was no light shining. I reached out afraid, the scent of my fear reaching the sensitive nostrils of Toothless. He crooned gently to me, then began his gurgling purr; but all the while I heard the snarl in the back of his throat. "Wha- what's going on?"

Don't get me wrong, it was heaven to be held so carefully, and to know that even if it did feel like the ship was being blasted apart, that Toothless would keep me safe. I had to know though, how were the others and my insatiable curiosity had me struggling against my organic bindings -AKA Toothless's arms-.

"Toothless- of Toothless, come on let me go. I need to -no Toothless you let me go!"

As it would so happen, I found out that hard way that my hübscher, was selectively deaf. I heard a familiar war cry, recognizing my father's voice over the pandemonium. I heard a cacophony of voices out in the passageway of the hold and they were all shouting one thing. "Hiccup!? Hiccup!!"

I recognized three familiar voices, Ruffnut's, Tuffnut's, and Fishleg's.

"Have you found him?" I heard the anxiousness in Fishleg's voice.

"No, can't find him anywhere!" The twins in their worry and excitement forgot to fight and their voices blended into one. I tried once again valiantly -and in vain- to break free of Toothless's possessive grip but I was as powerless as a mouse caught by a wildcat. Then I heard three pairs of feet clanging back up the stair to the upper levels.

I couldn't even be mad at the regal creature after their footfalls disappeared from the area, it was just incredibly flattering to be cared so much about. The large head leaned down and crooned to me, his odd mixture of a growl and purr was soothing; and very distracting as Toothless used it whenever I had night terrors about the Queen. "Toothless, I don't want to go back to sleep, considering its pretty impossible, what with the hold falling ap- oh Odis! The hold is falling apart!" My voice was reaching hysterical decibels.

I went into panic mode, beating my fist against Toothless's arm, "Toothless we need to get _out_ of here!"

Now that there was a huge, _gaping_ hole in the side of the hold the water was rushing in, and much to my horror, a long dark shape was moving in with it. "Ahhhhhhh!" I shrieked blue, bloody murder and tried to crawl up Toothless like he was a tree. A very warm, comfortable tre- what am I thinking?! Ugh I can't be distracted into dozing right now!

I lunged myself up as I felt Toothless hunch down ready to spring and fly up at a moments notice.

"Hiccup are you in-," the heavy metal door to the hold swung open and Snotlout -complete with bloody gashes and slashed shirt (the blood sparkled in the dim light)- stood in complete silence at the shock of seeing a blurry sea serpent slinking in.

I realized with relief that Snotlout couldn't see me and in turn couldn't see Toothless; the downside was… well he couldn't exactly see the Serpent all that well either.

"Snotlout," I screamed -wow a first for everything- "Run!!"

My voice didn't echo nearly so much in the space now that _there was a _wall_ missing, _because obviously he ignored my warning.

"Hiccup is that you?" I cursed as I heard concern flooding the other teen's voice -not so much the concern, but the foresight of what was going to happen since it was Snotlout-, "don't worry Hiccup! I'll protect you!" Ah boy and I was not left disappointed.

I smacked my palm to my face, 'Oh you stupid, dumb, boy. You choose to be nice be nice and kind to me _now?_'

"Toothless," I whispered down into a long twitching ear, "He's going to get himself killed!"

I looked up squinting in the murky darkness, water up to my waist and _I_ was sitting on Toothless's back. Toothless didn't shriek or roar, he didn't announce himself nor did he go through any of the normal motions two dragons about to fight went into. He just lunged, snapped forward like an arrow from a longbow that had been fully taunt.

He was an indecipherable streak of black against the gloom and he clawed vicious long furrows down side of the wriggling, glinting body. The serpent screeched in protest and surprise; part of its skin now torn away and I didn't want to look for too long or too hard; but I was sure I saw the beginning of its intestines falling out.

Snotlout, oh Odin bless that poor thick teen, was still fighting for my "protection"; it shouldn't have been funny nor cute. But after having a fierce dragon like Toothless already playing the role of guardian, a teenage half-trained Viking didn't cut it. I appreciated the thought of it though, having a human friend that was willing to jump into help at a moments notice.

A burst of voices suddenly reached us as Toothless circled the high-ceilinged room to wing back onto some stacked boxes. "What's going on Snotlout, did you find him?"

Astrid's frantic voice met my ears, and behind her the usual bickering of the twins; I didn't hear Fishleg's though, he must have been up on deck.

"Yes, he's in here! There's a sea dragon blocking us, but I think I wounded it!"

I smiled when I saw Toothless luminescent eyes roll ceiling ward, and I patted him softly, "Thank you mein vollkommener Beschützer." His ears twitched at my whisper and he puffed out his chest and rumbled to me, oh he was very pleased with himself.

"I think," I called out to the others on the far-side of the hold, "That it scraped itself on the twisted metal. Its bleeding out."

And much to my discomfort the water was reaching very high levels. I could hear splashes from the other side and the muted cursing of Tuffnut.

"Are you alright Tuff?" I called out.

The cursing stopped and an blustering reply came back, "Of course I'm alright! Who do you think I am Ruffnut?"

There was a solid thunk as the girl obviously threw here hammer at him.

"Hell-ooo? Dangerous Sea Dragon with big claws still alive here!" I scream out.

Astrid was in already motion, I could barely make out her white skull belt, that and she let out a very Viking war cry, slashing with her axe at its neck. The sea serpent had just expected a nice quiet meal of humans and what it got was: One very angry, very protective Night Fury, three not so smart humans that could still pack a mean punch, and two rather crafty humans -one of them not fighting, guess which one I am?

She didn't manage to take off his head, but now up against four very rowdy teenage Vikings -ah us youth, we are immortal so watch out- and a wary Night Fury that had already fatally wounded it; it seemed to just loose the will to continue.

The sea serpent let out one long roar, and fell down into the water; its rasping breaths silenced.

I felt a pang of guilt. Was I not supposed to keep dragons from being slain by taming them down? Why had I not even tried to calm this one down?

Toothless crooned to me and shook his head while pointing with his nose to the cooling body of the serpent. He made that interesting noise in the back of his throat, the one he made when an eel was place to close to him.

"What boy, is it poisonous?"

He snorted and shook his head, "Its not… a dragon?"

Don't ask me how I made such a leap, but all I knew was I had a sudden thought of _not dragon_. Maybe it was from reading Toothless's cues for so long?

I heard a sudden clanging as yet another body slipped down the hold stairs and crashed into water, "Hey you guys, the sea serpent up top had been killed!" Fishlegs blinked owlishly as he came into view and spotted the other sperpent's body. "There were two of them?!"

Atrid it seemed only nodded to the boy.

"Hey Hiccup, you done daydreaming over there or what? The hold is almost completely filled, we'll have to go out through the hole!" Astrid's voice reached me and I turned abruptly in the saddle. I made to get down into the water but Toothless snarled. I looked him square in his glowing eye, "Toothless, you can't carry me out of here; the others will see you. Astrid will make sure I get out alright. You need to fly out and wait for my signal to land on another ship to hide you again. Or do you want to get sent back home, wrapped up in chains?"

He let out a said keening groan and I pushed myself off his saddle completely. I held onto the strap and patted him gently, "Its alright my hübscher, I'll be fine. Look after yourself okay?

And I pushed off from the crate beneath us. The tang of salt and blood mixing oddly in a rather striking way. I have had many times where I've tasted blood -my own- in my mouth and the salt-copper taste was exactly like this. I tried not to swallow it as I awkwardly swam over to the five black blobs in front of me. "Guys?" I inquired.

Astrid swam over with strong strokes, Ruffnut on the other side of me. "Don't worry wenig Unheil(12)," The taller blonde said with a wink. I could barely see Astrid in the murk, but I heard her quite clearly, "We got you dragon boy."

I fancied I heard another keening cry from Toothless as our group swam out.

* * *

Urk, I have such a headache!

Okay first off some small things I'm going to clear up:

One: Vikings were actually at this time cleaner than most Europeans. They bathed every Saturday and were cleaner than those in England that thought around this time period that too much bathing could cause you to catch an illness; instead the English used blooding methods.

Two: There is no hard proof that Vikings had horned helmets other than a few paintings; but because I like to keep in track with the movie, the characters will in this.

Three, at a part in this story Astrid mentions Hiccup jumping like a colt. Of all barn yard and livestock animals, none were as important as the Horse. There even being prized horse that Odin their god rides. It is very beautiful and has 8 legs; the offspring between a giants magical horse and Loki disguised as an attractive mare. So I used a horse reference in keeping with this love of equines.

Four, Yes I know I don't have you all seeing Toothless and Hiccup's first night, mostly because I don't want to be writing three chapters all on the journey to the gathering, so let's all imagine this:

Toothless: Murrrrr

Hiccup: Here ya go boy, Icelandic Cod!

Toothless: Num num num (tails nudges Hiccup to rest)

Hiccup: Hmmm comfy

Toothless: purrrrr

Hiccup: (drools in sleep)

And that would be the skin and bones of the first night (wink)

1) Eir is the goddess of both mercy and medicine

2) the right-hand side of a ship when you are looking out from the bowsprit (which is that jutting pole of wood from the front of the ship used to hold extra sails, or store ones not in use.

3) Yard and Sail- this is the netting that attaches to the sides of the main sail

4) literally translates as "littler one, or squirt"

5) Kumpel- thanks to InsaneMelon, this is the proper word.

6) Baldur- God of light and all that is good, considered to be the most loved by humans

7) something like 98 feet, the 15 meters is about 49 feet… so really big boat. I figured two of these should carry the entire village if they crammed. Three is how many are sailing. They are sailing through pretty open waters, so no need for a more narrow boat. Muhaha now only two boats remain!

8) Fishleg's eyes are hazel in this, because I never got a chance to see what they are in the movie; so hazel because they are mix of green and brown. If you know what it is let me know!

9) DTG- this is how I am going to start referring to the ground zero group. The group of: Hiccup, Snotlout, Astrid, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and Fishlegs. Dragon Training Group

10) Dellingr- personified dawn, and this god's son is personified day. I'm just going to say that it was a bright smile

11) Hnefnatafl- this is a ancient Viking game. So ancient in fact, that our archeologists don't really know how to play it. It became less popular after chess was introduced in the 12th century but didn't entirely die out until later.

12) wenig Unheil - little jinx

Review and Review! I love to hear feed back!

(sigh) Okay all done here! Be on the look out for updates to Only Mine and His First Love both are being turned into two-shot upon the request of many reviewers.

Only Mine- will continue to be told from Toothless's POV

His First Love: Will be told from Stoick's POV but in the same way Astrid's was, not with the words I or mine. Okay I'm going to bed now, enjoy.


	3. Arrival

Back by popular demand! Chapter Three!

I am very blessed to have such avid readers and great reviewers. Since some have turned off their PM, I'm going to answer some questions in the fic right now. Thanks Alexabeamer, for asking such tough questions and bring up good points, the thing is you're right, Toothless can't fly without Hiccup to help him. But as he is light enough to fly, I'm going to give him air sacks, and his very own Hydrogen bladder, which means he can float…_really _well. Also, yes there was a large hole in the side of the boat, but it was more toward the top of it then the lower, also, it wasn't like all 98 ft of it gone blown off, just maybe a hole of ten feet all around; a sea serpent is not as bulky as other dragons, needing less space. As to how fast the ship should be sinking, honestly, (smile) never been on a sinking ship before to try it out. If it should have sank faster (it took the Titanic about five minutes and that was much heavier than wood) then let's just say I used creative license and slowed it down. Like in horror movies where the person is like, "I can't get a signal on my phone!" Did you know, you can contact emergency vehicles whether there is a signal or not? Yeah, guess the director didn't either.

I am also going for nearly impossible here for getting him back on the other ships, but Toothless has always been very stealthy, plus we have one very, uh, _accident_ prone Viking boy, what could possibly go wrong?

All disclaimers remain the same. I would like to point out that, yes I am using characters from the story by Cressida Cowells, but through writing on this site, I gave up all rights to everything but the plot. That being said, I don't own the characters. (Obviously.)

**Special Thanks**: Thank you to my wonderful beta, Bassclone 13. And another special thanks to InsaneMelon for giving me a few tips for future German.

**Rating**: Still T

**Warnings**: I find myself needing to put this in here: If you DO NOT like German words, Norse Gods, and boat terminology; sorry but you'll have to grin and bear it or just hit the back button. (considering this is the third chapter, I don't know why you'd be here if you _didn't _like it or at the very least are not bothered by it.)

**Notes**: They are still on a boat and I will still get a headache from all the different parts of the boat. So really, you readers and myself are all learning together! Oh, and I will not be giving terrible names to the other children of the tribes, I have little talent in making up icky ones; so we'll all just have to settle with real Scandinavian ones and old Norse ones. And I am not dropping the Norse from my fic. I understand some terminology might be a little hard to grasp, and I can only ask for you all to bear with me, but I won't be removing something so vital. YES, this _is_ based off of a movie and a novel, but this is a creative fiction, and I have taken the incentive to move this a step forward. Yeah, okay. Its got Norse gods (which were mentioned even in the movie) and it has some German. But this is the third chapter of this story and I am still receiving reviews of people telling me they think I should take out the references. I can't exactly find an English to Norse/Scandinavian word translator, so German it will remain!

I appreciate the reviews and the insight of course. I know it can be rather jarring for someone unprepared for it, and the constant footnote numbers can break the flow, but I am unwilling to continue to snip away at the plot of my story and what makes my story different. So everyone really just needs to relax a little. I'm not _trying_ to take anything from anybody, I already gave the disclaimer. I will cut back on the German, but I will not stop with any Norse references.

I am sorry if this upsets anyone, I thank all of you that have reviewed.

Extra Note: Er, okay so I have (thankfully) been informed by a reviewer, that C.S Lewis _did _use the name Swanwhite, but since I've only read a few books of the series for Narnia (I don't own, of course) and that this is an entirely different fandom. Considering it is just a name, and it was in fact used by real people _before_ even C.S Lewis gave it _to_ a character. So, characters are not the same, I'm not "borrowing" the character from Narnia. The name is the only thing that is the same and they both have a shade of blonde hair, THEY ARE NOT THE SAME. I did _not_ base my character off of her! (Even though it was an anonomous reviewer, I still really do appreciate the confusing review, because you took the time out of your day to inform me and give me your thoughts. So again; thank you.)

Even if your review is _critical, _I will appreciate the time you put into it, I will not appreciate flames. I haven't got one yet, and continue to hope that you (the readers) continue to enjoy the story, and the slogan for most fics on this site, "If you don't like this, don't READ this."

Enough of me boring you all, read and enjoy.

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Chapter 3- Ankunft (Arrival)

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I was fairly sure at this point that if I ever reached land again I'd never leave it. Even as this thought crossed my half-frozen brain, I thought of flying through the skies, and decided that instead of never leaving land I'd just never get back on a ship.

It was mass mayhem and pandemonium; a scramble to secure both the villagers of the doomed, "_Wilder Geist", _and the cargo that would be needed to finish the journey comfortably. The last two ships; which had been a few miles off to either side of the leader's boat; were now pulled alongside and reaching indiscriminately into the freezing waters, yanking up whatever their large hands happened to chance upon. That included many tufts of hair, beards, arms, clothing, and the odd belt; nothing mattered like getting the children and women up first. Several stowed, smaller longboats slid into the water and the rescue mission was on.

I was seized rather violently from the water; my pack of friends following much to Tuffnut's protests as his long blond tresses were yanked. His sister added her own snarled insults as she was dragged up harshly by her tunic. Astrid was a bit luckier; she quickly grabbed the hand that came for her, and held on as she was pulled up. Snotlout was dragged up by a foot, and Fishlegs was grabbed two-handed and thrown into the bow(1) of the boat.

When the boat was full, and the Vikings packed it very, very full, I found myself crammed in between a mountain of bodies. It. Was. Not. Comfortable. I had a random elbow jabbing into my ribs, and a foot inches from my face; I was just thankful that the boot was still -thank Odin- on. I could hardly breathe and I felt like my spine was being pushed against an oar. Oh well, I mused, it could be much worse.

Even though my vision was severely limited to the unattractive backsides of a copious amount of Vikings, the small breaks in the -thank Odin again- warm bodies; I found myself scanning the waters for the familiar black of Toothless.

I was worried, I wouldn't lie. I knew he wouldn't be able to fly very far -my idea of far was only about nine feet- but I had seen him swim and I knew at the very least he wouldn't drown. I man not be the best -okay not even a dragon hunter- dragon killer; but I had unfortunantly seen enough butchered to know what was what in the dragon anatomy. I had seen the large "hydrogen" bladder that allowed the dragon to spew forth their flames; that when it mixed with the oxygen in the air, another chemical caused it to ignite. Not all dragons were like this, the Zippleback had a head that just added the spark needed to cause an explosion; not really a firebreather though. My worry for Toothless mostly stemmed from him being caught, or being eaten by a shark; or freezing to death…

On the note of the shark, I figured, 'Hey he could probably _eat _the shark instead of vice versa.'

The longboat managed to row -just barely as there wasn't much space for a full stroke- its way back to its mother ship, "the _Starker Krieger", _and many ropes were thrown down to attach to the boat.

As we were heaved up -I gained even more healthy respect for the strength it must have taken to heave us _all_ up- and let out a sigh when the boat was pulled in and lowered. We spilled out like cod in a net; a few even comically flapping limply on the deck as many tried to get the blood recirculating again. I even found myself working out kinks and trying to rouse my sleeping foot. My prosthetic was still in place; and other then being cold, the stump was giving me minimal pain -probably due to being numb-

"Urgh-," came the weak groan, and I looked down to my left to see a nearly passed out Snotlout. "I never want to go swimming like that ever again!"

I snorted, if this was his idea of swimming, no wonder he and I had never played as children. Ruffnut half-slithered, half-crawled out from under her brother's sprawled body, "And you call _me _fat. You're heavier then an overweight Gronckle."

Tuffnut conveniently rolled over, landing an elbow into her stomach, "Oops, guess I am as clumsy as one too!"

She fairly snarled at him, before Astrid hissed at them to stop, "We just nearly _froze_ to death. Shut up before I throw you back in."

And I wholly believed she could and would. I sat up a little farther and looked for Fishlegs, he was off a ways by himself.

Pushing myself up -and I didn't groan like a little kid, thank you- I crawled the slight distance over to him, "What wrong Fishlegs?"

The bulbous boy turned his depressed eyes on me, "I thought I saw something in the water! I should have mentioned it to your dad."

I was at a loss. After all, the boy was right as he _had_ seen something, but at the time I had just wrote it off to Fishleg's being Fishleg's. "Don't feel bad Fish," I paused for a moment to collect my thoughts, "After all, I was there too. We both didn't say anything, and it isn't our fault. Who would have believed us?"

Fishlegs looked down sadly, "Your dad would'a believed you…"

I snorted at that as I highly doubted it. My father had made leaps and bounds in the way of listening -really listening- to me when I had something to say, but you know… stubbornness issues and all that.

I patted the huge shoulder and scooted back to the solid oak of the wooden railing. I was so very tired, and my eyes burned from salt and the intense desire to fall asleep, but I still needed to figure out how to get Toothless onto this boat.

I pulled myself up slowly, gasping in sudden pain from pulled muscles I didn't even know I _had_. I braced myself against the railing and looked out over the still waters. It sparkled a mysterious silvery-gray on the surface where Bil's(2) light touched sweetly. The darkness making the water look deep and nearly solid black, but not as black as him. I finally saw Toothless; flashing through the water like a spear thrown from my father's hand. He was swimming effortlessly among the swells of each wave, and he was buoyant in the saltwater.

I released the breath I didn't know I was holding; my anxiety that he might have frozen melting away. "Okay, what's gong on?" I heard Astrid's voice to my right.

I swear right then and there, that had it not been for my fake foot slowing me up, I would have jumped clean over the railing.

I laughed nervously, "A-Astrid, what makes you think something is up?" I carefully avoided her own light blue irises, she'd see through me in an instant if I looked at her right now.

She leaned away from me and looked out where I had been looking, "You disappeared for hours back on "_Wilder Geist", _you manage _not_ to die with an angry sea serpent in the cargo hold; and you seriously expect me to believe that _Snotlout_ was the one that wounded the serpent?"

We both turned simultaneously to see Snotlout standing near his dad and flexing -well he may not be the brightest but he was a bruiser- bulging arm muscles as he recounted his dangerous fight with the serpent.

"I never said he was the," I lowered my voice to a whisper, "one that wounded the serpent. It obviously injured itself on the wood splinters when it tried to force its way in."

"Oh really?" She leaned forward and rested her elbows against the wood. Her piercing eyes looking back out over the waters.

I shifted uncomfortably, I didn't like lying to anyone. It had nearly killed me to keep Toothless a secret from my father, and that had turned out… horribly to say the least.

I drummed my fingers against the smooth wood beneath them, trying to think of the best thing to say, so I told her the truth; part of it. "I'm worried about Toothless."

She made a gesture with her hand as if to say "go on", and I blinked at her. She rolled her eyes, "You're always worried about Toothless, that is a given. What is really, _really_ bothering you?"

Damn her for being both beautiful and smart. How was that fair? I turned away, "I'm worried Toothless will try to follow me."

She looked sympathetically at me, "You and I both know he can't fly. He's probably back home right now sulking."

A not-so-subtle splash drew my attention, and I saw a playful Toothless snapping at the spray from the swells, a resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him. Fly, no, that he could not; swim nearly faster than he could fly and tempt Odin's fate by being _in plain sight_, yes that he could manage.

I eyed the teen from the corner of my eye, and was pleased she didn't notice Toothless's reckless swimming. I felt relieved that my statement thrown her off the trail, but she was sharper than the axe she carried; and I realized I would have to be more careful. She turned away and went back to the group. I looked after them, an awkward feeling rushing over me. I used to dream at night of being accepted by that group of Viking teenagers. I used to dream that Astrid accepted -even liked- me, I used to dream that I was cool enough to be friends with all of them. Now, it was a reality. The realization came upon me so suddenly that my fingers curled deeply into the solid wood, fingers aching as the nails gouged out tiny slivers. I was a _part_ of that group, me!

I managed to blink past my stupor and again my attention was caught by the pitch-black dragon, diving like a mermaid without any regards as to anyone seeing him; I hoped that if anyone did, indeed, spot him they would only think his tail the disappearing tail of a sea maiden. Yes, they looked nothing alike, but my Viking tribe were rather superstitious so it would take little to convince them it was a mermaid; especially after the damned serpent.

I couldn't be bothered further, the deck was becoming very cramped as a ton of new bodies were deposited from the long boats; boat after boat after boatload. I was sad to hear of the few that were lost. Which was strange, considering Viking children learned how to swim before they could walk, most of us were completely comfortable in the water. I wonder what could have happened...

If only I were a bit taller, I wouldn't have had so many problems with being so cramped, but at my height -the _exact_ height of Astrid- the air was thick with heat that I couldn't break the layer of with out standing on my toes.(3)

My father was trying to conquer the pandemonium, his hammer swing non-to-gently to grab attention of the more… "panicked" Vikings. "That's enough! Ther' is plenty o' room for us all to sleep, even as cramped as it is." No one was going to argue with him.

I turned back to the open water, how long could Toothless swim?

The Vikings were winding down, I could see many passing out right on the decks and I knew that I would need to get Toothless aboard soon. The male dragon had been swimming -or floating as he occasionally did- for nearly six hours, and dawn would be breaking soon.

I felt it was soon approaching the best time for the dragon to get his scaly rump on to the ship. Hiding him _after_ he got on the ship would be the more difficult part; getting him on the ship would not be hard at all.

I walked over sprawled bodies, arms and legs entwined so often it was hard to tell whose arm belonged to whom. After picking my way over them all -difficult with my unbalancing fake foot- I cupped my hands around my chapped lips and called lowly, "Toothless?"

I threw a glance at the slumbering Vikings all around me; any other night and me just passing over them would have woken them up, not this night. They had been in battle, had their ship sunk right beneath them, swam for a half an hour in bitterly cold water, hauled back onto another ship like Mackerel in a net, and deposited onto a slick deck. I was more surprised that they hadn't passed out sooner. Not to say that everyone was asleep; I knew however tired my father was, he would be pacing the deck and re-counting to make sure everyone was safe.

Gobber would probably have a night crew up and about; they would most likely be scanning the water for crates of cargo that hadn't been destroyed by the salt-water. And you can bet every horse in your barn that they would be scanning twice over for any sign of another serpent.

But this side of the ship, near the aft(4) was the most quiet, and even the look-out here was dazedly trying to keep his eyes open. I was pulled from my thoughts as I saw the fatigued form of Toothless shooting up from the water. I gasped and threw down the rope, which he bit onto; his claws digging into the slick smooth wood of the ship. I was nearly flung from where I was standing, 'You idiot!' My mind screamed at me, 'How could you forget to tie it up?'

Gritting my teeth and bracing my legs against the oak -my left stump screaming in pain at the abuse, it still gave me pain all this time later- I began to tie the rope furiously into a knot that would take the strain of Toothless's weight from my arms.

He climbed quickly and surely, like a lizard up a craggy cliff face. When he reached the top of the railing, I was his intelligent eyes glance surreptitiously about; then scrabbled the rest of the way up and over slamming into my body.

I muffled my groan of shock and pain with my hands and wind-milled with the other; there were too many random bodies around for me to _not_ fall onto at least one of them. The big black goof-ball realized his mistake and his tail darted out for me to rest upon; I was halted in a reclining position.

I glared at him, well as best that I could; the black dragon always would cause me to crack up minutes later. "Toothless this is serious!", I hissed softly to him. His long ears flicked at me and he gave me a sly -instead of sheepishness, that cheeky dragon- and he put me back on my unsteady feet.

I made a motion with my hand and I felt the large dragons presence as I began to pick my way carefully back. Twice I found myself wrapped up in his wings, unable to see anything except through a small slit where the wings didn't overlap, only to see adult Vikings stomping their way moodily around; ignorant of the large black dark shape that blended perfectly in with the rest of the shadows.

I petted Toothless's arm as he crooned to me in distress, "I'm not mad, thank you for keeping us from getting caught."

This bolstered Toothless flagging good mood and he practically ran circles around me; and I in turn wanted to beat my head against the wooden walls. "Come on then," I whispered to the playful dragon as I opened the door that led down to the berths, and past that the cargo to this ship.

He followed me willingly, his soft purring croon reaching my ears as lowered his head and scooped me up so I tumbled down to his shoulders. I swatted him lightly on the shoulder, "Don't make too much noise. Do you want to get caught?"

I caught only the glimpse of white teeth flashing in the gloom, 'He-he _smirked _at _me!_'.

Yes, I was indignant over a dragon smirking at me, and upset about him making too much noise; but the thought to be upset about being man-handled by a dragon never crossed my sleepless-addled mind.

In fact, by the time we'd reached the hold, I was almost completely asleep; relying on Toothless's keen hearing and sense of smell to avoid being spotted. I suppose in hind-sight, that there were many instances where we were nearly spotted; but I was so tired that the sudden jostling and near suffocation were easily forgotten.

I came out of my sleep-trance as Toothless settled back on his hindquarters to open the metal cargo door, which thank fully had been slicked with grease to keep from squeaking. I was nearly thrown forward -I didn't have my riding harness on, but thankfully the mechanics for the tail-fin still worked- as the black dragon fell back forward. His snout sniffed carefully to make sure no "Wonderful Young Vikings Against Boredom" was convening in the hold.

I felt my hand touch the hardening leather of his saddle worriedly, the sea water was turning it stiff and it was rotting from the salt. I would have to figure out how to make a new saddle, but I couldn't right now; soon though, without a saddle the mechanics of his artificial fin wouldn't work properly.

I slid bonelessly from my place at the shoulders, and blurrily tried to keep the sight of the saddle firmly in place. I needed to get the uncomfortable thing off him, and wrap up the tail-fin for now. If I could dry it out, and rub the leather down with a special unguent it would keep the saddle from rotting away further. My fingers worked hard at the swollen leather knots; swollen from all the water, and it took near forever. When the last knot finally gave way, the entire thing slid off with a wet thud and I gasped at the sores where the scales had rubbed off.

I looked up at the stoic dragon in front of me, "Why didn't you say the saddle was hurting you?"

Toothless crooned and then curled up, ignoring the stinging wounds and looking intent on falling asleep. I looked them over once more, other then stinging like mad, the salt water would probably heal it up more. I sighed, what a terrible rider I was. Of course it would chafe, especially with all the moisture in the air and the crusted salt that would accumulate.

I felt myself gathered up close and Toothless trilled to me, a don't worry of sorts, he pushed me into my usual niche at his side and covered a wing over me. The world seemed to close off and in the darkness all I could feel were the warm smooth scales beneath my cheek and seeking hands, and the lulling sound of my dragon's heartbeat.

I woke hours later, the small portholes high up near the ceiling shedding minimal light, but it was incredibly muted beneath the thin membrane of Toothless's outstretched wing.

I felt lazy and warm; and I didn't feel very inclined to get up even though I knew I should. We would be landing soon; well, soon-ish. I turned slightly and stretched out, my head resting comfortable on a thick part of Toothless's tail, it was all rather strange. His purring resounding about me and his heartbeat close to my ear was soothing enough to put me back to sleep, which was all very well and good because I was so tired -sneaking a dragon on board could do that to you-.

"-I'm telling you, if Hiccup was going to sleep anywhere, it would be down in the cargo. He slept there before."

"That's ridiculous, why would he seek out the coldest and darkest place on the entire ship?"

"Why indeed."

Oh trolls and pixies… and that would be Ruffnut, Snotlout, and Astrid. I scrambled madly out from beneath the protecting wing, Toothless coming awake with a incensed snort.

"Don't look at me like that," I hissed at him, "you make it seem like I'm _bothering_ you, to get you to hide."

Rolling his eyes, Toothless stretched and stood up, lumbering away behind some tied down crates just as the door to the cargo slammed open.

"See!" Snotlout exclaimed, pointing a thick finger -Odin what part wasn't thick on him? Thick minded, thick fingered, thick headed- in his direction, "I told you he would be here!"

Astrid snorted, "Yes, he's here good job."

Ruffnut paced in, "Hey there Angsthase(5), what's up with you this fine morning?"

I gave her a weak smile -okay really a grimace- and waved, "Not much, is everyone excited about landing today?"

"Oh me, I am- I am!" The large boy waved his hand frantically.

"Uh…huh…"

Astrid shoved the boy good naturedly. "Let's go Dragon Boy, dagmall is ready and we have to get ready to land soon."

I checked the sun outside, well the bit I could see, "Dagmall so late in the day?"

Astrid shrugged her narrow shoulders, "Everyone got up kind of late today, its expected we'd eat now that everyone is up."

I nearly smacked my face into my palm, it would only make sense that they'd all eat now. I nodded and began to walk toward them. I was surprised by the friendly thumps I got from Ruffnut and Snotlout as Astrid started our procession out of the cargo hold. I turned back once more to see the sad glowing eyes of Toothless and I gave the smallest of waves to him before I was swept out of the room. I'd see him later when the boats had docked completely.

When we had all reached the fresh air on the deck, I wasn't surprised to see everyone gathered near the bow and some even on the bowsprit. All eyes were turned eagerly, all waiting to catch the first glimpse of the Southern Tribe.

I joined the rest of the DTG who were also gathered near the bow, Tuffnut and his sister jostled one another before falling still. From the crow's nest a triumphant and joyful shout, "LAND HO!"

I smiled as the view of the lush green of the island came into sight, despite the swirling mists of fog. The smiled abruptly faltered as I saw tiny specks of people all gathered and waiting for our ships to land. An old panic welled up inside me, an anxiety born of multiple bad experiences nearly overwhelmed me. A nudge from Astrid caused me to look toward her, she was smiling; and behind her was a large grin from Snotlout. To my left I saw Fishlegs, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut all smiling -at me!- and giving encouraging thumbs up. "We're here for you little Angsthase." Ruffnut said with a smile.

I felt the tension in my muscles drain away, it was different this time. I had my friends here. And I felt a smile creep over my lips, and I had a very possessive dragon in the cargo hold.

The ship's keel shoved gently into the sand and heavy ship anchors were dropped to keep the ship from slipping back out at high tide. I watched the eager gathered tribes press forward to welcome the "Farthest North" tribe -yes I understand the name isn't the most original, but hello, Vikings remember?- as the two ships were carefully banked. The gangplanks were lowered and a great joyous shout came from the masses on the beach.

My father stood in all his vast glory and called down to his youngest brother while nudging Spitelout in the side with his elbow. "Have we reached the home of Shield(6) the Strong?"

A man with bright red hair and of a sizable bulk strode forward, "Is the voice of Stoick the Vast I hear? And is that Spitelout the Malicious standing like a lump on a stump?

The three seemed to meet like a crack of thunder, all brothers yelling and shouting -in a manly fashion of course- there joys of seeing one another again. "Ah, Stoick. It's great to se' you again; you both look healthy." The man turned to look at his second oldest brother.

Stoick hmm his agreement, "And you're looking fit as well."

Shield looked around his brother's bulk, "And where be my two nephews?"

I felt Snotlout shove me forward gently -but his gently was… not my gently- and I nearly fell forward. I stood in front of the elder boy, and struggled with walking _down_ the gangplank. I had never walked down one before, and honestly it was terrible, my balance completely thrown from not having sturdy footing with a fake foot.

The crowd gasped at the sudden sight of my glinting metal foot and I felt my face flush, I ignored it. Snotlout put a hand on my shoulder comfortingly, "Just keep walking Dragon Boy."

When we both were down from the gangplank and slogging through sand -ugh that was going to be hard to get out of my fake foots mechanisms later- and we both came to stand in front of Shield, my uncle.

He gazed over us, "Well, you both haven' changed a bit. Uh, mostly." He gazed down at my prosthetic. "What be happening there lad?"

I gave him a small smile, "A long story Uncle Shield."

He nodded and turned to look at Snotlout, "And Snotlout, spitting image of your father." He gave the boy a thumping clasp to his shoulder, and even I was proud of my cousin for not falling over.

I could feel eyes on me, and I tensed. Shield turned away for a moment, "Ah, there be my boy. Gudreck! Get over here and say hello to your cousins, you know how far they traveled."

A black haired boy slunk forward, he was probably the same size as Snotlout and his malevolent brown eyes flashed as he took in the two of us. "Snotlout… _Hiccup_, so nice of you to join us for our gather."

Snotlout shared a look with me, "So _nice_ to be here." I gritted out.

Shield laughed enormously and then turned and waved down another child, "And this is my daughter, seven now."

I blinked down at the child. Her hair was the most pale platinum blonde I'd ever seen; nearly white. Her green eyes were sharp like a jade sword's edge, "Hello Cousin, my name is Swanwhite(7)."

I gave her a small nervous smile, "uh, Hiccup." And her eyes narrowed at me.

Oh Odin, this was going to be a long gather.

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I hope you all enjoy the chapter! If you have any questions ask them in your review and I'll answer them when I respond in a PM!

Wilder Geist means Wild Spirit / Mind

Starker Krieger means Strong Warrior (if they don't I'd love to know!)

1) Bow- the front of the boat.

2) Bil- The goddess of the moon

3) I went to an Avenged Sevenfold concert once and I'm only 5' 4". So I'm standing in the crowd, and I could hardly breathe -literally- because of all the heat coming off everyone that was pressed together. But when I went up on my tip toes, I felt cooler air because, I don't know heat is supposed to rise, but it wasn't warmer when I stood up on my toes. Anyway, yeah similar situation here.

4) The back of the ship

5) Angsthase- this means scaredy rabbit

6) Shield- Yes! This _is_ a Viking name from the Sagas!

7) Swanwhite- YES! I know! This is another name from the sagas! Someone was really named this and was a Viking! (laughs to death at the name) This character has _nothing_ to do with C.S Lewis's (a wonderful author) character. They just share the name, the name really did exist before C.S Lewis used it.

If there are any major mistakes let me know. If you have any questions for plot hole avoidance, that might pop up in the future, again let me know.


	4. Pain

(squeals like a school girl) Oh, wait… I _am_ a school girl. Anyway, I am uber-excited at all the wonderful reviews! You all really do like the story! And thus, I am updating every Friday! Interesting fact (so you can all skip it!) the word Friday is named for Freyja, one of the most beloved Goddesses in the Norse religion. Okay, yeah, back to the story. If anyone notices a mistake, do let me know! I can't say this enough: If you do not like this story, for whatever reason, do not read it. On that note, just a few questions I need to answer:

To Dragon_Fire: I'm not pointing you out, its just as an anonymous reviewer, I can't PM you directly. The reason I use German has been explained, but when it really comes down to it; it's also because I really, really like the language!

Ntfoemy: OMG, thank you so much for all the great advice! I will do my best to incorporate some of it!

Ahab: Again, another anonymous reviewer so I'm going to put this in here in case it was you, thank you first of all for reviewing! Yes, I know it can be a little annoying to introduce so many words and gods. But they can't be cut out. The Gods are a BIG aspect of what Vikings are. But I will take the advice on interrupting the flow with (insert-any-number-here) and keep it smooth. At the end there will be a list, in case you want to check for reference.

Other than that, I was able to get back to almost all of my reviews. If I missed yours I'm so sorry, but I want you all to know I appreciate such great feedback!

**Shout-Out!:** Thank you to Slayn, and Bassclone 13 for their hard beta work!

**Disclaimer**: I still don't own it…so yeah. Also, I got all the names from a wonderful site and from the Viking Answer Lady. She is a wonderful woman that has dedicated herself to teaching people about Vikings and answers questions sent in from students. Major props to her and her wonderful website.

**Warnings For Chapter**: JERK ALERT!

**Rating**: Still T

**Note**: Still using German, still using Norse gods and goddesses, still angsting over having to name everyone… Oh and I'm glad you all like my idea of making Snotlout and Hiccup cousins, but alas, its not my idea! In the book they were already cousins, so this is just another aspect from the book.

rabisco has drawn me an adorable sketch of the scene where Toothless has Hiccup hidden in his wings, the link is in my profile!

Thank you to Neitherworld for drawing a sketch of Toothless and Hiccup sleeping in the cargo hold! It's awesome and the link is in my profile!

**Note**: **If anyone has any talent for drawing**, I would adore if they'd be willing to draw or sketch me up some scenes from this story and a few from my others… I can't draw very well at all : ). I would give credit in stories and in my profile, plus links! Leave a review or PM if you're interested! I can give you no money, but perhaps a minor character in the story? After all, twelve tribes and Vikings loved to have kids. The fact we only saw six in the movie was for simplicities sake, and even in the book there was maybe only fifteen children mentioned. (don't quote me, I only read the first book), so with a gather this large, there will be room for many, many small characters.

Please bear with me, this chapter will introduce many people, but for the first three pages, it will all be introducing the leaders and their children. The leaders expect all of their children to get along with one another, because they will need to be on terms when they are adults and have taken over each tribe. So throughout the story, most of these children will be together.

Enjoy!

Chapter Four: Schmerz (pain)

I should have known… No, I mean I _really_ should have known that seven years would not make all that much of a difference in terms of the way the other tribes viewed me.

It was while I stood there in the swamping sand, already starting to sweat from the humid heat that Berk would never see, that I could really see it. All of the other ten Viking leaders strode forward, and behind each of them that walked forward were crowds that were more or less separated by some imaginary line.

My crowing father was welcomed heartily into one-armed hugs and fierce thumps on his broad shoulder; the many voices blurring as each leader reconnected with the burly man. All except for Aðalvaldr the Bloody. The tall and brutish man never seemed to enjoy contact with any person, even his wife.

"My friends! It is with sadness I must tell you that the tribe Gawooel, will not join us this year. The lazy brigands are on a raid! But, it is with great pleasure that we take a few minutes to start this Gather properly!"

I digested the information; it wasn't a big loss. I wasn't that fond of the leader, and I was definitely not upset that his children weren't coming.

It wasn't this oh-so-heartwarming moment of all the leaders from the different tribes more-or-less joining together with the goal of a week long marathon of ale, sex, and competitions that made me cringe; but it was the flickering looks that I kept spotting out of the corner of my sharp eyes.

This was the event that I disliked the most; the leaders would all come forward and start to assemble the Ehre. It was considered "the honorable children next to rule", a chance to show off the leader's children, but for me it was an event sent straight from Hel. After all, I would have to stand in the hot sun near other offspring that would rather slap me around, than shake my hand.

Gudreck and Swanwhite were already standing nearby and both had their glares set to highest intensity, but at least here I was comfortable with the knowledge that they'd never start something in the middle of such posturing between all the other leaders; especially since their father was the host. I was beginning to wonder if it was too early to hide back in the ship.

Sure enough, other teenagers and children were beginning to be shoved forward by the much harried mothers. Each group of children pushed toward the center of the beach were, most certainly, the other heir-to-the-hammer offspring.

Aðalvaldr's child was the most noticeable. Vrangi was lanky, tall, and as vicious as his father. He was a year older than me, with handsome narrow face. His features were so recognizable, because of the rumors that he was born of neither of his parents, but to Loki himself. The boy never smiled, more fond of smirking, and his cold blue eyes were only marginally warmer than his father's.

Then you had Balli the Brute. He was a man with a striking face, but only because nearly half of it was covered in enflamed red scars. They were worn proudly and had been won in a fight between -supposedly, because Vikings loved to puff themselves up- the leader and several "enormous" Nightmares. His son Ballung was no better and loved to tell long, and frankly terrible, stories of all the mighty feats he'd accomplished and so on. I usually stopped listening after the second rendition of a fight he'd had with a "huge Deadly Nadder with really long teeth".

The leader of the Dragon's Eye Tribe was Raobaror the Wretched. They say that the tribe had acquired the name from the very founder of the tribe who was rumored to have exchanged his eye for a dragon's to spare the beast its life. Do I believe it? Yes, yes I do. For such a fearsome name however, the Viking -in my opinion- was one of the most level-headed Vikings walking around this gather. He was slow to anger, unusual as most Vikings ran hot and cold… but mostly hot, and had long brown hair twisted into something that wants-to-be-a-braid-when-it-grows-up. His son Tryggr, had inherited none of his looks. The boy was more muscular and he had the strange copper hair of his mother, but as a child had never been without something interesting to say.

Vakr the Hawk, was a peculiar Viking. Er, well not _my _brand of peculiar, but he was certainly an oddity. He wore no beard, and his hair was close-sheared to his head. It was done with a steady hand, but most likely with an unsharpened , considering the way the shaggy fringe fell across his incredibly keen eyes. His favorite past-time, outside of hunting for wild dragons, was to sit and observe his tribe as they went about their days work. His daughter was one of the few female children who would be allowed to represent her tribe, considering the man had no other children… currently. Give him a few years; there always seemed to be a slew of new children to meet every time the tribes meet up. Leikr was a teenage girl with hair the same tawny color as her father's, a year or so younger than myself. The homely girl was as quiet as a mouse; but I hope I'm around to watch her beat the first male to treat her like one into a nice bloody pulp. She had a sister, but the child was only about five and would not join the Ehre group until she was at least seven.

And how could I possibly miss Banki the Burly; Balli's younger brother? He was almost the identical image, same huge size, same thick black hair, same handsome features; all without the scars. He had a similar nature to boot; but the leader of the Gallos Tribe seemed to be, and I use the term gingerly, softer. He seemed to actually enjoy the company of his children. He had a son and a daughter, but only his son would be joining the Ehre group that only the heirs were privy to. Yeah, I know… some privilege. I watched as Eldi bowed to the amassed leaders and walk over to where we heirs were already standing. The boy had hair as fiery as his name and a personality to match. I nodded briefly as he bowed to each of us; and I chose not to comment that his bow to me had not been as low as the others.

So, now with seven of us all standing like ducks waiting to be shot by a bow, the next Viking leader, Geilrir the Grey stalked forward. His name spawned from the ashen color of his hair, despite that he was in the prime of his life. He gestured to his son and daughter; Glumr and Gloa respectively. Both strode forward with a scowl, but for once it was not directed at me; I almost smiled to myself. As children they had been much more close. Not as close as Tuffnut and Ruffnut; they weren't twins, but it was strange to see such thinly-veiled disgust and hate for one another.

After Geilrir, there was Grimi the Grim. Yes, again; we Vikings show off our incredible talent in creativity! He was a man that drank a lot, talked a lot, and killed… a lot. His thin son Gromr? _I _actually felt sorry for him. The boy had a name much more worse than mine and how could any name be worse than my own of Hiccup? You could have his name; I'm not terribly shocked in hindsight, his father was probably drunk when he named his son "dirt".

The boy practically darted across the tan sand and came to hesitantly stand to my own left side. I was relieved, actually, because at my other side was Snotlout. He was thick-headed but loyal, so now I was completely free from being subtly kicked by Gudrek when all eyes were on the ceremony.

A man, not quite so tall as the other leaders but certainly as broad, stepped forward. Eior the Fiend, used to be a rather violent man, but now as he was entering his later years he was beginning to have more than just muscle hanging from his frame. His once vibrant blond hair was streaked liberally with gray, his old, weathered face was now somber; he seemed to have aged so much from when I had seen him at last Gather. His son was the oldest of all of us in the Ehre group, eighteen, and was approaching the prime age to be a leader. We all expected Eior to hand leadership to Eyvi at this gather and many more were unsure that Eior would last to see the next gather. I figured it would take more than old age to kill old Eior. He was what my father called a "proper Viking", which meant the man would probably find a nice village to plunder and fall upon some random sword so he could go to Helgafjell(1).

Since one tribe would not be here, I felt a rush of relief as the last leader to be presented strode forward. The man, if you could call him that, was as beastly as the dragons he was known to hunt avidly. Gaggar the Hound, his name stemming from his single-minded desire to kill and destroy. Once he had prey, be it dragon or human; he hunted it down with a passion that was on a scale out of the realm of normal Vikings. His wild green eyes scanned over us where we were all standing quietly. He snarled out an order to his wife and she pushed a boy forward.

Immediately I felt my heart soften a little. I remembered this boy, a newborn when I had last been here; making him only seven. Gallin had a thin and starved look, and not just starved for food. His thick, black hair grew in an untamed mess down his back. He all but ran over to where we were all standing and took a place in front of me. Even at his age, he came up to my chest; and I could see welts from where his tunic hung askew on his left shoulder.

With all of us assembled together, the host of the gather walked forward again. Shield looked like he'd already started on the celebration and seemed a little unsteady already.

"My friends! Tonight shall be a night to rest and enjoy being with our brethren! Tomorrow the games begin!"

An ear-deafening roar erupted from those watching, and in front of me, Gallin flinched at the sudden noise. Snotlout nudged me carefully, his nudge more gentle because he didn't want to gain attention to his movement, "How much longer you think?"

The teen was suffering more than myself; sweat pouring down his face. I found it oddly funny that he could stand dragon training, but not an increase in temperature. I gave him the slightest whisper, "Not too much longer."

The burly boy sighed, nearly slouching down so far that he was level with me; "I hate standing here for so long like this…" I wasn't about to disagree, I wouldn't have minded actually sitting down and soon.

Ballung, standing next to Snotlout, elbowed the boy harder than really necessary. Snotlout showed no outer change, but his eyes darkened in anger, "Don't talk while the leader's talking!" the slightly shorter boy hissed out.

I stepped non-to-gently on Snotlout's foot as the boy's hands started to twitch; the meaty fists were eager to meet the loud-mouthed brunette's face. Instead, after my "subtle" reminder that we were still in a ceremony of sorts, the teen growled out, "We'll be talking about this later Ballung…", his voice dark.

Next to Ballung, Eldi spoke up, "Oh don't worry, we'll be there Snotty."

I winced and sighed quietly. No one could claim I hadn't tried. Thankfully the crowds seemed to swarm away from the beach and all except the Berk Tribe were dragging personal items off the ship. I felt horror grow in my stomach, would they take all the cargo out right now; that meant they might even discover Toothless.

I turned ready to race, well…limp quickly, back toward the ship; but Gudreck sidled out in front of me, "Hey there cousin of mine, where be you traveling off in such a great hurry?"

He took one step forward and I stepped back instinctively. It wasn't fear, it was self-preservation! "Gudreck, you aren't going to start the very first hour of the gather are you?" a dark and silky voice knifed through the growing tension.

Vrangi was standing nearby; his eyes trained on Gudreck, completely ignoring me. Abruptly, the animosity that had been trained on me shifted; the air nearly crackled with the anger and rivalry between the two black-haired teens. I only wish that their rivalry wasn't over who could ruin my life faster.

While they were busy, I began to slowly move again away from the eruption of squabbling teenagers. Eyvi had similar thoughts and was trekking off toward where other teens his age were debating on whether to hunt deer, or to see if they could scare themselves up some dragons. I shuddered.

I was beginning to have second thoughts - a little late, I know- about Toothless staying anywhere near here. I adored the noble black beast, but with over three thousand Vikings all in the same area… The draconic population was about to take a sizeable dip.

I made it only a few feet before scathing insults were spat out behind me and I heard the sound of a fight break out. I spared a glance back and saw Snotlout eagerly "in battle" with Bullung. The large boy swung a violent and fast punch at the shorter, who moved just enough for it to graze his face, but it would leave a lovely bruise. Behind the two fighting teens, Eldi didn't exactly sneak up, he came running in with a battle cry; only for Leikr to trip the blazing red-head with a casually positioned foot. It seemed she was, indeed, _still_ angry from when the boy had stolen her wooden sword that her father had made the feisty girl at the last gather.

And it was just general mayhem all around. Out of sight of any adults, the offspring were wild. The Berk tribe really were still tired from the journey and were single-mindedly unloading; much too distracted to actually stop anything.

Glumr and Gloa were snarling vehemently at one another, practically at one other's throats with their respective Seaxe knives. Snotlout and Ballung were still fist fighting; Eldi had picked himself up after eating a healthy helping of sand and was now in Leikr's face shouting up a storm.

Gudreck was an inch from leaping at Vrangi and tearing at the other boy's face; and the other seemed just as likely to do the same any second from now. That left Eyvi, who had wisely made tracks as soon as Shield had released the impromptu meeting. Tryggr, who was watching the events like the quarreling heirs were arranged entertainment, which they kind of were. Gromr stood hunched off to one side. The brunette was probably pleased he'd escaped the notice of the more antagonistic teens and was at least making better progress of leaving than I was.

I felt like I was strangely missing a few… ah! Found them. I saw Swanwhite over by the thin boy Gallin I'd seen earlier; and from the expression of shame I saw on the young boy's face, I could tell Swan had taken a few lessons in "how-to-humiliate-less-fortunate" from her older brother.

I was overcome by the fierce desire to march over to my younger cousin and give her pale hair a good yank. It was terrible to condone this vicious cycle; that to be a good Viking you had to be cruel to the weaker. Maybe a good yank or two would be a good lesson. I was older -and despite being, well, me- I was still stronger than a seven year old; therefore in this situation I would be well within my right to. The abrupt thought cooled, why was I feeling so violent lately? Too much time around a dragon and not enough time around humans? I eyed the squabbling group, _'On second thought, maybe not enough time with Toothless and too much time with this." _Unbeknownst to me, I gestured to the entire group even as the thought solidified in my mind.

Even as I watched the two. the small boy broke from her piercing gaze and came scrambling over the sand in my direction. The wicked blonde looked like she was going to give chase, but I felt myself toss a withering glare that stopped her in her tracks.

I'd never been really able to glare all that well. Just ask Toothless of all the pathetic attempts I've tried on him; but in that moment I felt that I must have worked up a good one. The young girl sneered at me, in typical Viking fashion, and pretended that I hadn't scared her off the trail of her very frightened prey.

I'd had about enough of the chaotic mess behind me, and I strode purposefully toward the ship. I was surprised after a few feet when Gallin fell instep with me. I kept my look steady, but my innards twisted. He was the same small, thin, and out-of-place child I had been, but he was so quiet…

I reached the gangplank, _'Thank Odin! Thought I'd never make it."_

I began my way up and paused when Gallin ducked beneath the wood where it arched off the ground. My worry for Toothless overcame my curiosity and I continued up. Things were nearly as frantic on the ship as they were off of it. Many Berkians were running about here and there; all in an effort to unpack so they could all relax.

I was making a steady b-line to the doors that led down into the hold, when Ruffnut swept past me. We both paused, out of mutual respect for our friendship and she gave a smile, "What's up Dragon Boy?"

I thought for a moment, "Do you know if the cargo will all be unloaded today?"

The blonde girl shifted the wooden box she held and frowned, "Not all of them, the salted fish will be unloaded as needed; it would just go bad if we took it all out; the storerooms for the gather are already full."

I nearly fell over from relief, now that I knew he wasn't in any danger of being discovered, I wasn't so frantic. I was still worried though; Toothless would _not_ like being alone all day; but what else could I do? There would still be villagers moving about the cargo bay; even if they weren't untying all the boxes from the metal rings in the floor. I couldn't just stroll up and start petting my dragon with so many people; Hel, I couldn't do it even if there was only one other person in the cargo hold.

I would have just found myself a nice abandoned corner to hole myself up in, so I wouldn't be stuck wit-

"Here Hiccup, take this down to the beach, would you?"

I fought my glare, _'Kind of hard to say no after you've already dropped it on me, and walked away.'_

I struggled with the box and managed not to kill myself from overbalancing off the plank and into the water. When I reached the ground, I was proud that I'd delivered the box safely, _'Ha! Not so useless now, am I?' _My eyes alighted on Snotlout. He was walking back from where we had all be standing earlier; his posture belaying his pent-up rage. His lip was split, blood dribbled down from his hair line, and he had a darkening bruise on the side of his face.

I leaned casually against the waist-high box; "So, who won?"

The brunette snarled, "I almost had him! Then that asshole Eldi leapt at me from behind!"

Well, that was bound to happen, the cousins seemed to have furthered their alliance from last gather. "Any broken bones?" I tried to keep the hope from shining through in my voice.

Snotlout gave an actual smile and lightly punched my shoulder, "Next time Dragon Boy; now, where is this box going?"

-----three hours later-----

When the sun was reaching its highest point in the cheery blue sky, I was lying exhausted in the shade of a large maple tree. The last of the stragglers were, finally, leaving the ship. The Us Wonderful Young Vikings Against Boredom were lying in similar states around me.

I wasn't quite sure if it was because they were feeling as tired and lazy as I was, which was _entirely_ possible; or if there was a reason they gave a silent snarl at whatever hapless visitor passed by. I had the strong mental image of a pack of possessive Terrible Terrors, rather than the teenagers that had come from Berk.

This was made all the more apparent when Vrangi showed up later and tried to entice a fight. Well, perhaps it wasn't a fight he was looking for; but he ruffled a few feathers.

"Ah Ruffnut, oh sorry, _Tuff_nut_ -_perhaps one of you should wear a bow- how are you and your brother doing?"

Oh, good job. With one lame insult he'd managed to instill hostility in two very bored teenagers looking for any reason to fight; after all, they fought with each other over nothing at all! The two, as expected, were on their feet in a few seconds; both howling for blood and weren't particular over whose it was. A small group of followers of the cult that is Vrangi, I suppose, were slowly pressing in.

"Now, now." The teen raised two palms to show he meant little harm, _Snake!' _my mind hissed. "I've only come calling for our _dear_ Hiccup." His smile increased, "I'm sure none of you will miss him."

He paused and I shivered. Oh I remember _those_ chats. One minute I would be following him and the next, three or four of his "friends" would descend on me like scavengers to a dying animal. I would walk away bloody and aching all over; when they actually managed to catch me. I wouldn't have been much of a quarry now, not with a fake metal foot.

So yes, sorry Vrangi, not feeling like waking up black and blue tomorrow. I opened my mouth, but was cut off, "What ever you want to say or do, you can do it here."

Ah Astrid, straight to the very sharp point as always, not that I minded that in this instance. A delicious look of confusion swept the handsome boy's face, and he looked unbalanced for a moment.

He seemed to really look at our group then, taking in Tuffnut and Snotlout's steady tell-tale twitch that they were getting antsy. Ruffnut was pulling out her axe, Astrid already had hers out; and Fishleg was large enough to just glare.

I felt my heart swell with sudden gratitude to Odin; it was worth the pain and agony from so many years of abuse at the hands of my peers; just to have a few friends like this.

Vrangi's cool blue eyes were calculating. I could see it in the play of the thoughtful wrinkles across the smooth forehead, but the boy merely smiled and the wrinkles disappeared, "Well, I just came over to inquire about how our little Hiccup lost his leg, nothing wrong with that, is there?"

His inflection suggested that he'd very much _want_ one of them to find a problem with it, just so later he could say that it wasn't him that started the fight. Why were all good-looking people crazy? Was it something in the genetic code? A little gene that activated at puberty that screams, "Let's see how many souls we can shred today!"?!

"No," I answered shortly, pulling myself up from my sprawl. I tapped the metal, "A dragon did it."

The boy's faced morphed into one of scorn, "So, all of your daddy's babysitters finally failed? I surprised it didn't make off with all of you." He gave a blizzard-cold smile, but no twist of the lips that he made should ever be classified as a "smile".

Snotlout, who seemed to be as ready to jump as whistles and shadows today, was making his way to his feet, "Hey! You take that back, you useless piece of rotting garbage! He lost that foot-"

Astrid promptly kicked out one of the boy's legs and the teen toppled back onto his ass. "Asssstrid…" He whined out, the beautiful girl promptly ignored him.

"He didn't loose his foot in any trivial manner." Was all the thin blonde girl said, before she closed her eyes again. The other DTG members began to settle back to the sand, Tuffnut sprawled out in a challenging posture, but he was still poised to leap like a panther. Fishlegs gave a huff of defiance at the whole thing and went back to reading his Dragon Manual.

Vrangi sneered and with a subtle flick of his fingers, his small group diverged around him; puppies licking at their alpha's heels.

My foot seemed to be one of the more popular thing to talk about this gather; every few minutes, children and teens I had never even seen, were walking past my shady spot under the maple.

It _was _annoying, but trolls and pixies! It was so much better than the scorn and disgust. I still saw _plenty_ of that; though it was lessened by the looks of curiosity and even a few looks of respect.

No matter how I lost my foot, -and there were many…interesting theories- the fact that I was now walking around with a prosthetic due to a battle with a dragon was enough to garner respect from many of the elder Vikings. A lot of them had lost limbs of their own, and their sympathetic nods were soothing, in their own strange kind of way.

It was pleasant, now that I wasn't dodging shadows and looking over my narrow shoulder; looking for any child my age that wanted a piece of me. I was actually starting to really relax and enjoy myself.

I saw off a little ways, Gromr by himself. His sad brown eyes were watching the blue waves as they crashed upon the surf. I felt my joy fade a little. Why were Viking children so cruel? Was it the whole "gotta-be-the-toughest" persona that the adults spoon-fed us from birth?

Regardless, I sat up. "Heeeey! Gromrrrr! Come sit with usss!" I yelled out; my words echoing over to him.

I appeared to have caught his attention and he stood straighter, more tense. Did he really think I was going to call him over to beat him up? Me… Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third?

He seemed to finally make up his mind and shuffled over. The brown eyed boy sat approximately two feet away from the farthest of our group, still flighty at the idea of sitting near us.

I looked him over, "You've gotten taller Gromr."

The boy looked like I told him something magical and he even sat up straighter, "R-really? You really think so?"

I turned and looked sharply at Snotlout, who was watching amusedly, "huh? Oh, yeah definitely! You're probably at least as tall as me now!"

The boy _beamed_, not a little smile, not a grin, he _beamed_ at us. I felt my stomach slither to the heel of my boot; how could someone end up like this? I jumped into a lengthy conversation with the brunette, and off to the side he said something about dragons that caught Fishleg's attention. The two hit it off so well that I purposely began to fade myself out of the conversation and smiled delightedly as the two began to rant to one another about the differences of a certain dragon's poison versus another.

"I see what you did there," Ruffnut laughed from my left.

I smiled at her openly, "It worked, didn't it?"

This time her brother answered, rolling over from his stomach to his back, his face falling to the side to stare over at me, "Good job DB, taming dragons and fixing broken children. You're like the jack-of-all-trades for taming creatures."

His sister hissed at him, covering his mouth with her tan hand, "Don't say that out loud!"

Her face scrunched up into one of disgust as her brother licked up her palm, "Ewwww."

I found myself smiling again. Yeah, this wasn't so bad.

------That Night-----

Dinner had been a spectacular event. There was a whale that had beached itself up on the shore and the rest of the day had been devoted completely to butchering it, Shield was declaring to anyone that would listen, that it was a gift from Njörðro. Many were inclined to agree, whale being a main part of every island dwelling tribe. Beached whales provided the most amount of meat in the winters, and the blubber was delicious.

Every part of the whale was going to be used; the bones would be used to reinforce building, especially the ribs, and the thick blubber was already being broken down. Fat was being collected for lamps, and the baleen was being hacked out to be used as a strainer.

Afterwards, it had been a mad dash to find vegetables and spices; salt was on hand and ready to salt whatever meat would be left. Besides the whale, Eyvi and his little troop had caught a nice tender buck, and there were several contributions of huge salmon. All in all, it was a feast worthy of the occasion.

I had ate until near bursting and then I raided the piles of meat from the whales near smoking fires. The smoke was blowing over the great amount of meat to keep the flies away from laying eggs until the women could get back to salting. I grabbed a huge slab and, while grunting, managed to make my way back to the ship with it.

It was a long trip hauling back a good forty pounds of whale meat, but the idea of Toothless seeing such tasty food after being by himself all day would be worth it; the poor beast had to be devastated with me being gone for so long.

I make down into the hold without tripping down the stairs. My Gobber-brand prosthetic was finding it hard to find purchase while carrying so much extra weight. I stumbled into the heavy door and finally got it to open; spilling onto the hold's floor.

I hadn't even a moment between falling to the floor and realizing that I had fallen, before I was seized by familiar scaled arms. I laughed in relief, "Toothless, I'm so glad your safe!"

The croon was there, and the dragon seemed nearly beside himself. "I'm sorry buddy, oh Beschützer, I wasn't abandoning you! I couldn't come down here with everyone moving things."

The croon lessened, and a purr replaced it. Large stunning, green eyes stared at me and the smooth snout began to snuffle all over me, "Toothless, haha, stop I'm fine. I'm not hurt."

Then… _then_ he spotted the whale meat. The black beast fell upon it with gusto; tearing it apart and enjoying it greatly. After pulling out my flint and a small cylinder of wax. The wick was a reed that had been dipped in the whale fat from earlier. I fumbled about until I lit the candle. Flickering soft light illuminated a small area around me. I smiled and relaxed, patting the smooth hide while the ravenous dragon dug into his meal.

I was almost completely immersed in my thoughts when I heard a strangled sounding shriek. Before I could even fully understand, there was a struggling child held fast in Toothless's tail; coiled up with infinite care.

Gallin! I felt my eyes go wide. The boy opened his mouth, ready to scream again and I leapt up awkwardly. "NO! No, no, no! It's alright, see? He's nice, he's a nice dragon!" I fitted my hand over his mouth, "It's okay, don't scream!"

He stared up at me, his eyes nearly rolling with fear like a horse's when it smelled fire nearby its stable. "No, shhh, it's alright. Look, he's not hurting you is he?"

The best thing about children, is that they are easily amused and quick to forget transgressions brought upon them. The boy was already calming, and at my pointed question he actually turned his startling eyes to look at Toothless, who did his best to appear friendly with a toothless grin.

The boy actually giggled! I removed my hand with relief, and wiped the saliva off on my leggings. "Gallin this is Toothless. Toothless, this is Gallin."

I introduced them and watch their responses carefully. I was anxious; if the boy got scared he could end up telling someone; that would blow up into a huge manhunt.

'_What if he does tell someone? What if he _brings_ someone down here? I need to move Toothless, but he can't say on the island. Not with all the hunters looking for something to kill. Oh, what if they find him?'_

Through all of my high-speed thoughts, I was once again pulled from my musings to see Toothless nudging the boy away carefully. The said boy was trying to scratch behind the long, expressive ears.

I laughed, "He doesn't like being touched."

Toothless snuffled and moved forward slightly to butt his head under my arm, as if to purposefully contradict me. Knowing him, he probably _did_ do it on purpose. "Well, patted and touched by strangers."

The small boy flashed a sun-lit smile. I couldn't understand it, "Why aren't you talking? Well, it _is_ pretty overwhelming…"

Toothless preened at the idea of being overwhelming and the boy's face seemed to go from being touched by the sun, to shadowed by night. He raised a thin hand to his pale neck and tapped it.

I felt as though Odin had smiled a little on me, despite the situation. The boy was a mute! A half-second later I felt disgust for myself. Mutes were usually killed as soon as it was discovered among Vikings children; it being considered a defect. Without his voice, the child could never warn others in battle, or make any statements of any kind. How could he lead his village with no voice? And no wonder other kids and adult picked on him, we Vikings considered anything that couldn't talk to be _animals_.

"Hey Gallin?" I leaned down a little to look him in the -damn his eyes were unnerving- eyes. He looked eagerly at me, "If I let you feed Toothless and let you help me buff his scales, would you keep him a secret?"

The boy looked away, his face frowning. "If they find him, Gallin, they will kill him."

Now the child just looked devastated and he leaned out again to try and acquire a touch of the scales; my pleading eyes kept Toothless still. Gallin's own eyes lit up as his small pale hand moved against the smooth bulk that was the dragon's side.

He turned to me and nodded frantically, "Remember Gallin," his eyes met mine, "don't bring anyone down here, understand?"

The black-haired child smiled, his pointed canines glinting strangely in the gloom and fire-light.

I sighed. Well, it couldn't get much worse right?

* * *

I know it was long and boring, but it starts to pick up again in the next chapter!

So, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! None of these character are a self-insert, hehe, if I were a character on here; I'd probably be exactly like Hiccup, and that wouldn't be fun. Original characters need flaws too! Anyway, review please! Let me know what you think and seriously, whoever draws a picture for this get's a character!

Listening to:

Give You Back- Vertical Horizon

We Are One (club mix)- Chemistry

(1) Yes, I know I said I wouldn't, but blast it all this needs to be explained! All Viking warriors want to go to Valhalla, but if they are not heroes they can not go live there, as it is in Asgard. For those that die victorious in battle, but aren't chosen by Odin, Freyja gets them, and they live in in a place called Folkvangr. Those that die in a battle and aren't considered "heroes" live in a place called Helgafjell, a festive place with lots of drinking. The final place you can go if you die from disease or old age is a place called Niflheim; considered to be a dark and misty place and not much of anything going on.

**FOR CONVENIENCE!**

Aðalvaldr - Norse for ruler, leader of Helian Tribe. Named for their honoring of the Goddess Hel.

Vrangi- wrong, unjust, son of Aoalvaldr

Balli- From the Norse adjective Ballr, it means risky, bold, brave, or daring. leader of the Gallos Tribe

Ballung- dangerous, hazardous, son of Balli; cousin to Eldi

Raobaror- Norse for council or for decision, Dragon's Eye Tribe. In the past after a fight with a terrible, rampaging Nightmare; The story goes that the founder of the tribe caught the fearsome dragon. The dragon desperate to save his life asked the leader if he would spare its life, if it traded one of its eyes. A dragon's eye, supposedly full of magic, was worthy of its life and the Viking exchanged the dragon's life for its eye.

Tryggr- I know, cool name right? Norse for the adjective trusty or reliable, son of Raobaror

Vakr- this name is Norse meaning "the watcher", leader of the Oaken Arrow Tribe, known best for making outstanding arrows. They trade these to other tribes.

Leikr- Norse name meaning battle or weapon-play, daughter to Vakr

Banki- Norse word for pound or beat, Balli's younger brother. Leader of the Molten Rock Tribe, the tribe being situated near what once was an active volcano- farther south

Eldi- Norse for fire, son of Banki; cousin to Ballung

Geilrir- Norse for hot-tempered, Boaru Tribe. Named for an epic battle between the founder of the tribe and a terrible boar the size of a lion with five tusks on each side of its mouth. The boar was killed in battle, as was the founder of the tribe; to this day it is still a popular story among children. (this is made up for this story! Although there might be similar legends among the Norse people.)

Glumr- Norse, glowering expression, son of Geilrir

Gloa- Norse for "to glow or to glisten", daughter of Geilrir

Grimi- Norse for mask or for the helm they wore to protect their faces in battle, leader of Thoris Tribe. This tribe is named for their devotion to the god Thor.

Gromr: Norse for dirt, son of Grimi

Eior- Norse for Oath, leader of the Burguns tribe from the East. (this name comes from the real tribe of Burgundians, an east Germanic tribe)

Eyvi- Norse for lucky wolf (er I think, this name is a shorter form of Eyjolfr, ey means good fortune or luck. While jolry is a form of ulfr which means wolf)

Gaggar- Norse for dog; leader of the Valians. Named for their intense worship of the god Vali; god of revenge. Violent, but terribly cunning in battle; suspected of abusing his wife and child. (a small crime to Vikings, considering the woman can divorce at this period of time and take her children and possessions with her.)

Gallin- Norse for wild, crazy, or bespelled, son of Gaggar

Gallos - this is a name I took from the word Gallo with refers to a certain sect of people, the Gallo-Romans


	5. Day Two pt One

OKKKKKAY! So, I promised everyone that this would be up Friday (ducks flung objects) I'm so sorry it wasn't up Friday, but I've been _really_ busy. So this chapter is extra long to make up for it!

Alright, so first off on the list of things I need to mention. As it is now moving steadily toward summer and college is winding down, I don't know how often every story will be updated. I'm going to try and put the pedal to the metal on this one; I'd like to have it finished in about two weeks. Yeah, I don't see it happening either, hehe, but I'll certainly try. In the meantime, my other stories will be updated, just not as snappy as they were before. The reason I'm choosing this story to focus on, at present, is because this story is the one I have to put the most effort into. Have to study up on what Vikings did for fun, what their lives were like, all that fun stuff; not to mention how long each of these chapters tend to run.

Second off, I know Vikings probably didn't have "steal the flag". I _am_ sure that they had "mock" battles or tactic drill for raiding and fighting. The gather can be broken down into each day which Hiccup will explain later in the chapter.

**Random Trivia **(Impress your friends!): Vikings may have lived where it's freezing cold, but they had a ton of different food at their disposal; all of it seasonal. 25% of daily calories for the Vikings, however, came from the sea. They had quite a bit of modern day fruits and vegetables that we would find at are local mart: apples, blackberries, strawberries, cabbage, spinach, seaweed, radishes, celery. And they had some not so common: Rose hips, elderberries (ha, oh Monty Python), Angelica (from the parsley family), and acorns.

**Disclaimer**: I am making no money off of this, but I really _really _wish I was; but I'm not. So go sue someone else (grumble).

**Rating: T**

**Warnings:** Some blood, dirty tactics, graphic (ish) violence.

**MAJOR SHOUT OUT: **Much, much love to my beta's Bassclone 13 and Slayn. Thanks especially to Slayn for explaining a few grammar functions for me (grin). Oh, and all mistakes are mine! If you see one please point it out… I'd prefer politely, but I can't force you!

Chapter Five: Tag Zwei / Day Two part one

I don't blame the Vikings for being grouchy the next morning after the feast. I stayed out of the way as best I could, not particularly eager to tempt any of the other teen's wrath so early. I walked, not too unsteady this time, down the rocky path to where the rest of the tribe was settled.

The grounds set aside for the Berk tribe was a sprawling plain. The entire island itself was huge, able to support the host's tribe, and then ten others along its lengthy coastline. The camps were set up in a vague line; if I were on Toothless, the line would probably appear to be more staggered. Each camp was close to the fresh water inlet, but each position was given according to the standings at last gather. Simply put, our tribe came in overall at fourth in the standings of all of the tribes. That meant we would still have to walk to get our fresh water, because it was really gross to drink water right next to camp because it was all downstream from the camp north of us.

The team that came in first, Dragon's Eye, was the only tribe that didn't have to travel very far for their water. The tribe that came in last -and the standings changed every year- were not here this gather. So the Oaken Arrow tribe was able to sprawl out more comfortably in their position in eleventh.

I wondered sometimes on whether or not the tribes ever took their standings in the ranks seriously. After all, to _me_, it was just a get-together where a bunch of fierce Viking adults horsed around, drank till they were passed out in Gather Field (the main common ground where all the tribes gathered for meals), and generally got into trouble; I would never say that out loud…_ever._

On the other hand, those of us that still had both limbs anyway, I also could see the benefits of just relaxing so completely. The usual, 'me-scary, you dead' façade was dropped, and the brotherhood that tied all Vikings together flourished. Or the bond withered and it died, so miserably and slowly that one would wish for a blade to fall upon just to end it.

The general set-up for our camp was… well, there wasn't one actually. The families just plopped down their tents and pitched them pell-mell all over the place. Again, not surprised. Most families pitched their tents near their neighbors back at home, or they just chose at random, their thought processes probably something like this, 'Oh that's so-and-so… you know we should set up next to them, they're good drinking buddies.'

I didn't have a choice where my father and extended family pitched our tent. That decision rested solely on my father's, aptly named, vast shoulders; and of course his youngest brother Spitelout. They argued about it for hours, _so I heard, _because while they were busy deliberating, I was doing my best not to shout, "Charge!" at Vrangi and his cronies.

And what happens when there is no clear voice of reason present during the debate between two, er, rather stubborn brothers? Why, you end up pitching your tent up in the highest and hardest to reach rocky plateau to be found, so you can, "Stare out over _my_ tribe, my boy!"

Then there were the blank stares and opened jawed silence; from me anyway. Snotlout seemed to have little problem with it, after all, he was a good Viking-in-training. What my father, the leader, said went; no questions asked.

When I had reached the foot of the large hill, (in my opinion a small mountain), I noticed the ground was already beaten into a path, one that headed straight to the Gather Field, and I had to laugh at that. Nothing would keep the Vikings from their dagmal.

I had only made it halfway across the grounds when I felt the hair prick on my neck; my self-preservation senses were tingling. I remember the feeling and felt my body tense. Carefully, I eyed my surroundings, wondering why my sense of you're-about-to-get-it-_bad_ would be going off in the relative safety of my own camp-

"DRAGON BOY!" a chorus of two cheerful voices fell upon me and I swear I would have jumped three feet into the air, if not for the two arms that slung across each shoulder. I winced, oh yeah…

Tuffnut was on my right and Ruffnut was on my left, both were snickering openly.

"You should have seen the way you leapt."

"If we hadn't been holding you down, you might have taken flight!"

I tossed one of my weak -pathetic! - glares at each of them. "Yeah, yeah, where is everyone?"

I didn't have to clarify who "everyone" was; the twins knew exactly what I was talking about.

"Astrid is creeping around the meeting hall where the Manians -our dear _wonderful_ hosts- usually gather for their tribe meetings." Ruffnut said, absently punching her brother into silence when he went to answer.

The building would most likely be for the typical tribal meetings, for now though; it was killed and resurrected to house the eleven leaders. It was a place for them to discuss who would be in charge of what contest, how points would be measured this year, and how every one was to be separated into teams when the contest was not every-man-for-himself.

"She wants to get a head's up on what's going on this week." the taller male said, dodging the next punch.

"Fishlegs and Snotlout?" I inquired, watching in amusement as the two siblings began to glare, their foreheads inches from crashing with the others.

"Fishlegs is chatting with Gromr at the gather field." Ruffnut growled out, before she tugged away.

Instant screeches of rage and death threats broke out. Ruffnut's horned helmet caught Tuffnut's long blond hair and her attempts to detangle it only caused it to become more wrapped into it.

"Here let me help!" I smiled benignly at them and neared entangled teens with a laugh. They stopped struggling for a moment as I stepped up with hands outstretched, before I paused and moved delicately out of their swing range, "You know, nevermind, more for me before you to gluttons get there. See you at dagmal!" And I sped past them laughing.

"JERK!" came the shrieking scream.

"That was my _ear!_" Tuffnut's shouted indignantly.

"Oh?"

"Oh!"

"Well then let me scream a little louder!"

"Argh why are you such a bitch? That time of the cycle?"

_WHACK_

I smiled again, oh sibling love, how so very touching so early in the morning. I made it down to the Gather Field; long rough strewn benches at equally rough wooden tables greeted my sight.

I picked my way over to it gingerly. In the past, I would have probably avoided the area all together, as the Ehre group was expected to eat together. Apparently, in the minds of our parents, they seemed to think that sticking us together as much as possible would create strong bonds. Oh, and it certainly did, bonds of absolute loathing and general desire to see the person sitting next to you disappear down some dragons throat.

Dagmal was, in short, loaves of fresh and lightly-browned baked bread, hard dry cheese, assorted fruits, cold leftover meat, and grain porridge. I helped my self to a hand-sanded wooden bowl and piled it with the delicious fruit, some bread, and a few hunks of cheese. Then I wearily limped over to the Ehre table; for once a mixed bunch of looks were thrown at me. The normal glares, yes, but it was mostly looks of disinterest, curiosity, and one of awe.

I gave Gallin a tiny smile as I awkwardly maneuvered my way to sit down next to the small boy who had been sitting at the very end of the bench. Next to my right, Gromr's dark brown eyes flew open in shock that I'd sat next to him.

"Hey Gromr," I nodded to him, "Gallin." I nodded to him as well.

"H-hey Hiccup. H-how was your night?" asked Gromr.

I felt my lips twitch from amusement over the question as I remembered my night in the ship's hold.

I had stayed long into the early morning with Toothless and consequently Gallin, who was in such awe over being close to, "Dear Odin! A Night Fury!"

Well, the boy couldn't talk, but if he could, that would be all he probably could manage. It wasn't bad at all; Gallin was unobtrusive in every way. He'd sat down a foot away just to stare in wonder as I walked around Toothless's growing hide and burnished every black scale with a handful of sand.

I had found myself talking to him almost absent mindedly, he was so quiet even -besides not having his voice- and his pale, washed out blue irises followed every movement.

I told him all about how I had found Toothless -who even whacked me with his wing as I mention the hated bola- how I had helped Toothless to fly again. I debated about leaving out the end of "the story", but I finally told him the rest. It was kind of fun even, to peer over Toothless -when had he stood so tall at the spine?- and watch the spell-bound boy's eyes grow larger and larger.

It was strange too. Gallin didn't ever look as though he doubted me for a second; just in a serious state of shock. I didn't blame him. I myself had passed out when I first encountered Toothless, and he was in no way less impressive now than he was then.

Even more, I enjoyed Toothless purring like a content -yeah, one that weighs a ton- cat, his eyes filmed over with a third eyelid he used when flying. I made sure every scale was gleaming in the candle light. I peered at the calluses that had formed, again kicking myself; well I'd be seeing to _that_.

Toothless did not seem to be bothered by it in the least. He curled to look back at me, his large glowing eyes appeared brighter as they reflected back the slight light. The dragon gave me a very serious look, his tail coming up to pull me to his side. I was glad he forgave me so easily, for everything; his tail, his capture, his pain from where _I _saddled him…

Gallin crept closer and with nary a noise. I was shocked when I turned my head from where he had been sitting to find him only inches away. His gaunt face was staring up at Toothless, who in turn was eyeing the small human with a curious expression.

I heaved a sigh as I turned my attention back to the eagerly attentive teen to my side.

"It was a good night Gromr, what about you? Did your camp settle in fine?"

The boy gave a non-committed shrug and began to wolf down his food. I sympathized, across the table sat our enemie-

I mean… our wonderful friends and someday our great allies! Vrangi was sneering, and down a little ways from him down a line of many, sat a sour-faced Gudreck. I must say, my dear cousin did not look like he was enjoying himself in the least.

I blinked as I heard a boisterous voice from behind me; I recognized it easily as my other cousin Snotlout. The muscled teen was talking loudly and eagerly with the thinner boy, Glumr.

I raised an eyebrow, not at the sight of them together, but at shock the boy wasn't glaring for once; they had to be talking about killing something. I shrugged and went back to my meal, my eyes keeping to the table.

I felt Gromr nearly shoot from the table in mad-eyed fear as Snotlout sat beside the skittish -even worse than me!- boy and gave a loud morning greeting to all of us. Glumr sat down and snorted, digging in with the single thought of food in his stomach overpowering the desire to talk any longer.

As the table began to fill, I felt tensions beginning to creep in closer, wrapping around the atmosphere of the table. Ballung and Eldi showed up a few minutes later, casting vicious glares of hate at Snotlout, who returned their fire with some of his own.

Some might be confused as to why my cousin sat at the Ehre table, some of the heirs even felt as though it were against them personally, but it was really just a reminder. Just because you were an heir, did not mean that you would automatically someday be the leader; in most cases, though, you were. If several children were born to the same leader, it was generally acknowledged that the eldest would lead in his father's place. Accepted because the eldest was usually older by several years and therefore when the leader stepped down, or was killed, the child was ready for the responsibility. When siblings were born close together, it was another story, the rivalry rarely got to the point where one would kill the other, but there were tales of failed dragon hunts…

Regardless, most of the time, siblings close in age and born to the same leader would separate. The younger generally would create his own tribe or he chose to become a second-in-command. It was an unspoken law to try and keep as few heirs about as possible, or there would quite a bit of chaos in the ranks. This went against most Vikings who decided that the more offspring running about, the better.

Eyvi was skulking, yes skulking, at the end of the tables. Obviously displeased at having to _still_ sit at the Ehre table where the only one closest to his age was Tryggr, who was only sixteen.

Tryggr himself was currently piling his metal plate high with a ton of meat and only one type of fruit; strawberries. His odd colored hair glinted in the bright morning light and I had to squint my eyes just to watch him walk over. The teen seemed not to have noticed the tense way the others were sitting and plopped down next to Glumr.

I rolled my eyes as he dug in, exactly like Glumr had a few minutes ago, I turned to scan over the amassed -wow there were so many of us- and spotted where the rest of my group was sitting. I caught Fishleg's eyes and the large boy waved frantically. The others turned, I watched Astrid turn towards me and give me a tiny smile. Odin, she finally smiled at me!

We really hadn't had time to talk much about "the kiss"; really I was unsure if she had meant it as a 'I want to date you,' or a 'I'm so glad you didn't die you, asshole!'. Either way, we remained close, whatever her choice -cause I was always here, really!- was. Ruff gave me a small wave, while completely opposite -as normal- Tuff waved frantically; I shook my head at the two, laughing.

There was silence at the table. I felt almost every pair of eyes on me; all of them shock. I wanted to roll my eyes, _no_, you were _not_ losing your minds. I was enjoying myself, I just laughed; you all can stop looking like I grew an extra head any second now.

Snotlout was the only one unsurprised; he was used to my laughing now and was continuing to inhale his dagmal. I tried to look indifferent and instead ducked my head down, attempting to choke down the rest of my cheese.

The meal went more quickly after that; I had finished when the leaders came out of their meeting. My uncle Shield took his position in the middle of all the tables and cleared his voice.

"My friends!" His voice boomed out, nearly deafening those close by him. "Today we will be holding two events!"

Vikings all around him leaned forward, despite his powerful voice.

"Today, the first event will be, Find the Horn, all children; no exceptions! For the adults later in the afternoon, the spear throw competition!" From his side, Shield produced two identical dragon spikes from a Nadder; bright and cheery yellow. From here I could see Astrid flinch as she recognized what dragon breed it was from.

A mad chorus of cheers went up, roaring their approval; a spear being what most of them were familiar with; and it was something for adults to look forward to. "Prizes" to be won and all that.

"Now, I need all the children up here; don't whine about "you're too old to be a child". Unless you're nineteen, you're participating!"

I could just _feel_ the disappointment rolling of Eyvi, who'd missed the cut-off by a year.

Now, I was probably -Viking teens don't like thinking much- the first teenager to think, 'Is this really an efficient use of our time?' However, this was a gather… there really wasn't much point in it; this was a vacation. It wasn't _my_ idea of a vacation, but what can I say? I'm not very fond of the idea of being beat with spears and dodging blunted sword strikes.

Not to mention it would take at least half the morning just to hunt down all the children and separate them into two teams. It was not so much the dividing of us; this was accomplished easily with, "All you on that side," point to the left away from where I was standing, "You're all going to be on the red team."

And so on, what _did_ take a long time was receiving a slip of leather that was dyed the color of our team. It was against the rules to take them off and exchange, though some would try it; they usually didn't make it very far, not with the adults who were looking for entertainment.

Then all us children that were in the age group, too many to count, were all rounded up onto another huge field. Ah, the field would be where the other events would be held. Horseback racing, foot racing, wrestling, the spear/bola throw, the archery competition, and the final event was a large ritual to Odin.

Currently though, it was now under the very impractical use of forcing a ton of offspring to run about, get attacked by the other team, and for the proud parents to shout out, "Yeah, go for the face!" and "I told you to swing _up!_ How can you beat 'em if you're spear is going in the wrong direction?!"

Thanks for the support dear parents, because this can't possibly end badly, right? I was scowling the entire way, my group walking on all sides of me. Surprise-surprise, that Shield had used the exact same method to separate the children as they _always_ did.

Now here was the _real_ problem -one even greater than the use of real weapons- was that there was about four hundred wayward teenage Vikings-in-Training and no one could settle on _who_ would be leader.

I fiddled with the leather on my bicep; it was stained a dark blackish blue from berries. At my side, Astrid stepped up beside me.

"You okay?" Her voice was quiet and it was nice to hear concern flitting like a shadow in her voice.

I turned to look at her, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just settling in for a very long wait."

She looked confused for a minute, until a sudden body fell back against her. I managed to get an arm out to keep the thin girl from falling. Said beautiful girl turned with a snarl on her lips and dragged, _dragged, _the boy up by his tunic, "What's your problem?!" Astrid hissed.

Turns out it really _wasn't _his fault, a group of several belligerent -well that doesn't really narrow it down- boys were arguing loudly; squabbling like a bunch of pigs after the same piece of corn.

Rolling my eyes, I stood silently beside the still fuming Astrid, before Snotlout came strolling up. Glumr, who seemed to be the teens second shadow, cast a glare at the taller boy when he realized where he was being led to.

"Hey Hiccup, anyone decided who the commander will be?"

I gave a small shrug, "Well, it looked like for a minute we had a victor, but his reign was short and someone leapt on his back."

Snotlout turned to look at the circle of teens who were wrestling -no rules in sight- and shook his head. Every time there was a "champion" there were four more contenders all anxious to prove their…manliness?

Astrid gave a derisive snort, "It was just like this last gather. They shove us all down here and expect to pick our leaders and our co-leaders. I think that this is more fun for them," she jerked a thumb back at the crowd of cheering parents.

And she was probably right. Tuffnut and Ruffnut were, for once, silent as they eyed the masses. Fishlegs was nearby for a moment, but he spotted Gromr, "Guys, I'll be right back. I'm going to get Gromr and bring him over."

We nodded, it was not creepy at _all_ that we were synchronized, and the large boy disappeared into the increasingly annoyed crowd.

"I should be the leader, I'm obviously stronger than any of _you_ here." I didn't recognize the boasting teen, and honestly, I couldn't have cared less. He wasn't all that big…

A thought sparked in my brain. "Hey, Snotlout?" I turned with a slight smile.

Snotlout, who'd been watching with avid interest in the most recent match, inclined his head without taking his eyes off of the wrestlers.

"What?"

"Why don't you try for it?"

"Try for…?" He trailed off, waiting for me to continue.

"Be Commander for the game."

"But- but you're the heir…"

I brought my hand up to stop him, "This is a game and I'm sure our father's would be _very _happy if our team won. You're one of the largest of us here and we could all be your co-leaders."

I nearly fell over then, just from the sudden shock that I was _excited_ about the idea of our team winning. That this was another instance to prove that just because I was on the team, didn't mean we would lose.

Ruffnut caught our attention with a slight wave. When we looked over at her, she gave us a wink and caught her brother by the arm. They whispered between themselves, I felt very sorry for whoever they were plotting against; and I knew it was a plot, their faces were twisted in glee.

The two began to creep over to where the latest two teens were fighting. Tuffnut popped up on the left, Ruffnut on the right, each brought up one hand to rest on each wrestler's skull.

With -to me a hollow sound- a resounding crack, they brought the heads together and watched as the two stunned boys fell to the ground.

"We nominate Snotlout for Commander!" Tuffnut shouted.

No one said anything, but there was a tell-tale shuffle of someone preparing to protest.

Ruffnut pulled her axe from where it was slung over her narrow shoulder, "Anyone got a problem with that?"

"Yeah, _I_ do!"

Enter poor Manly Teen Boy number one. Before Ruffnut had even stepped forward to answer the boy, Astrid raced forward and nailed the beefy neck with the blunt back of her own weapon.

There was more silence as the boy fainted to the ground, "Any_one_ else?" Astrid asked sweetly.

I thought that they were overdoing the whole "shock tactics" just a little, but the three injured teens were already staggering back to their feet, no permanent damage done.

Snotlout stepped forward and gestured for all the others to gather closer, "I'll name my co-leaders now."

That got the teams attention; every eye was trained on him. "My co-leaders are: Astrid," The girl nodded to show her acceptance, "Tuffnut and Ruffnut," the two both began to cackle and those near the two took a step back. "and Fishlegs."

"However," the "leader" cut in to stop the growing murmur of approval, "The teams tactician, will be Hiccup."

The roar of, "No's" were deafening, but his roar of, well nothing really as it was just noise, overpowered them. "Can any of you honestly say that you can do a better job of _thinking_ and _planning_?"

Oh no! How could our new "leader" speak such terrible words? Think? Us Vikings? _Now?_

Protests were gone and many of the other's were actually smiling, a lone voice asked, "So we don't need to think on this, he'll just tell us where to stand and stuff?"

Snotlout nodded.

I felt my back pounded on by a passing girl, "Good then, we'll just leave you to it."

The DTG wandered back over and looked at me expectantly, "What?!"

Astrid raised an eyebrow, "You need to tell us the plan."

I looked skyward, "I don't _have_ a plan."

Tuffnut hissed at me, "Don't say that so loudly, do you want them to kill you?"

Ignoring the statement, I turned to survey the field, if only I had Toothless. I could fly up and see what the other team was doing. It would be a huge help to us, if they were still fighting. Our team had finished unexpectedly early, usually because it was hard to get five kids on the same team to agree on a leader for at least a few hours.

Hmm, I wonder if?

"Fishlegs? Want to help me really quick?"

The boy jerked forward instantly, "Sure! What do you need me to do?" I would have laughed as his voice took on a serious tone, but he was so in the mood for it, I couldn't have even thought to ruin it.

"I need you to let me stand on your shoulder."

"Stand… on my shoulders?"

I felt the questioning stares, but it was Gromr that spoke up, "Y-you want to look at the other team, d-don't you?"

I smiled at the lanky brunette. Hit the nail right on the head(1), he did.

It took some maneuvering, and in the end it took several hands to keep me steady, though I did at least get on by myself, thank you. Wobbling only slightly, and still ignoring the rising murmur of "Wha?" I looked out over the field to see a writhing mass of crowds.

I couldn't hear them of course, but they were definitely still trying to decided who would be leader. Back further behind them, I could see the long, yellow spike resting on a small wooden pedestal that could not be moved.

I made a gesture to be lowered down, my excitement nearly tipping me off. I felt exhilarated and antsy, _I _could help my team win!

"They're still fighting," I whispered breathless in my enthusiasm. "They won't be expecting us to be done so soon."

I heard the rustling of cloth as the our team began to group up, "You mean they aren't expecting us?" Ruffnut asked, a delighted grin splitting across her pretty face.

I nodded, but a sudden panic dropped into my stomach, "Quick," I shouted out awkwardly, startling the group, "Start to pretend we're still fighting! If they notice we've stopped, we'll loose our advantage."

Well, at least no one can say we Vikings do things half-ass. The instant the other understood, their "pretend chaos" was even convincing me.

I kneeled down, one knee growing wet in the dewed grass. "Okay, so right now we're at a cease-fire, but the only reason for that is because neither team is ready this early. We'll need one large team, to lead a frontal charge, to make them think that we're coming from the front. Two smaller teams, maybe five in each, will move in from the wings. I want them to look blended in with the charge."

I paused to envision the plan in my head. "We'll need the fastest runners in the two side groups, so they can get the horn back. Maybe two extra for each team to keep them from being captured; like guards for them."

Astrid nodded, "I think Snotlout should lead the charge, not only because he's the commander, but I think he'll be able to keep their attention."

I nodded absently, my eyes fell on Gromr, "Gromr? How fast can you run?"

"M-me?" the boy all but squeaked.

"Yes, I think its good that you're plain," I lessened the words with a smile, "Because they'll see what hits them when you snatch the flag."

Despite my calling him plain -but honestly maybe I could have worded it better, me being plain myself- but Gromr seemed not to have even noticed that. His eyes were wide, "M-me? Bring back the _spike_?" He looked both delighted and in anguish at the same time.

I stood up and gestured for him to follow me, "Fishlegs?"

"Yes?"

"I trust you probably know everyone's general speed and capabilities right?"

The burly boy shrugged, "I may have taken a few notes…"

"Choose who goes in the two teams, make sure we can trust them."

I looked at Snotlout, "Keep our plans quiet," I eyed the crowds. "I don't know who here has friends on the other team."

The blue eyed boy nodded, "I'm going to take a walk around," he gave a small grin, "Let's just see who _exactly_ is on our team…"

Tuffnut leapt up, "I'll go to, we'll be all _non-shalant."_

Ruffnut aimed a smack at his head, "It's nonchalant, you moron."

"Who's a moron?!"

"You are!"

Astrid sighed and I heard her start to get into it with the two, while I lead Gromr away.

We were silent for a moment, I wanted him to feel comfortable enough to talk.

"Do you want to be on the team that will go around to steal the horn?"

The boy looked like I had stuck my dagger in his stomach, "I do, I want to be the one that brings it back _so_ bad, but what if I fail?" His eyes took on a fearful look, "My dad will hate me even worse."

I was vividly reminded of that feeling, one that had swallowed me whole and made me wish that I could crawl into the ocean and never return from it. The feeling I had felt when my father had told me I was no longer his son, I could sympathize with the boy standing in front of me now.

"You know what?" I started, without even realizing it.

"What?" he asked softly, looking at the ground as though it held a secret.

"I-," I paused, unsure of where I was going, but decided to opt for the truth. "I did something really, _really_ stupid last year."

Oh, what an understatement. I only saved a Night Fury -who was much sweeter than I thought possible- flew on a dragon's back, found the Queen's nest, saved my entire village from death, and consequently turned every dragon into a glorified pet. Stupid, but it paid off so much, that I would have done it over and over again.

Gromr's eyes flicked from the ground to my face, "Bad stupid?"

I grinned and nodded, "There was a moment, where my dad nearly disowned me…"

The boy's eyes flew comically wide, and he nearly had a heart attack, "_Your_ dad?"

I bobbed my head again, "But the point is, the stupid thing I did? It changed the way everything in our village works now, and it was worth it."

The lanky teen thought it over, before he looked up at me with blazing eyes. "I- I want to try! I _will_ bring back that spike!"

I smiled at him, that's the spirit.

-------An hour later, ready for "battle"--------

I was currently leaning against the pedestal -it was really just some wood thrown together- that held the yellow Nadder spike. Orders had been passed along and Snotlout had told me earlier, that he had seen none of what either of us would consider enemies.

This had caused me to cringe, because that meant Vrangi, Ballung, and Eldi, Gudreck, and Gloa were on the other team; ugh. The positive note there, despite most of my tormentors were on the same team, was that you could bet your last gold coin that Vrangi and Gudreck would be at each other's vitals, and breathing down the other's neck. Very counter-productive, if I might say so. There was a drawback as well, that meant Swanwhite was running about around here and she was most certainly loyal to her brother, if only from her strange hate of me.

I hadn't seen the rest of the Ehre and I was slightly worried as to where Gallin had made off too. I was even thinking of having him in the second smaller team, the boy was young and extremely quick.

I felt a small hand pat my back, 'Trolls and Pixies', I managed not to shriek. I turned my head and saw a very guilty looking Gallin, "Ah, speak of the boy!"

Said boy looked at me strangely before gesturing with his hand out at the two small teams that were preparing to stagger themselves along the boundary line of our team's side. "Ah, yes, I was going to ask you if you wanted to be part of the, well we're calling them the Kriecher squads." Again, not very original considering that the two groups job _was_ to sneak around behind the other teams boundaries.

The boy frowned slightly, before he gestured to his Longsword, my eyes widened, "What are you doing with such a sword? Isn't it heavy?"

Gallin reached behind him and brought the sword out from leather straps the only held it in place. As ordered, it was blunted and would do no lasting damage unless he used it to stab. No matter how unsharpened a sword could always pierce, it would just be much more painful.

The thin boy held it out, despite it being a Longsword it was about a foot shorter than the ones most seasoned Vikings used. After all, I've forged quite a few. Gallin was only about four feet tall, taller than most seven year olds, and if he had a full sized one, it'd be only a foot shorter than its wielder.

Also, I know noticed, it was one of the lighter Longswords, maybe only two pounds, while a few in my village could be up to five or six pounds. The blade width was just barely a half of an inch, and it was well-made. Still, my father wouldn't allow any child to run around with such a weapon. Seaxe knives and daggers, were the most dangerous he'd permit until they reached about ten or eleven.

On the thin hilt there was an engraving of a snarling war-dog, and I knew it to be the symbol of Gallin's tribe. My own tribe's symbol was a war-ship, I wondered if we'd soon change it to a dragon's head? That was necessarily saying that we "tamed" dragons, we could even say it was because we'd killed so many.

I gave Galling back his sword and he returned it to its place on his back after fiddling with a few leather straps. "Follow me, okay?"

The black-haired child gave a tiny nod and dogged my steps as I walked unevenly over to Snotlout.

Said brunette looked up at my approach, "Hey, have you thought of anything else?"

Actually I had, now that he'd mentioned it, "I think instead of both teams running for the spike, we should have the second team decoy for the first.

Snotlout furrowed his brows, "So, you want the main team to be a decoy for the second team, and the second team is a decoy for the first small team?" His voice was confused, but at my nod, he shrugged.

"Just tell the main team to charge and fight, they should be happy with that. Tell the second smaller team, that they are going to pretend to go after the flag, make it as noticeable as possible. Then Gromr's team, will snatch the spike in confusion."

The large teen simply shrugged again and strode off, making sure one last time everyone knew what they were doing. "What about you?" Gromr asked.

"I'm staying behind with a few others to make sure our Spike isn't taken."

His look mirrored my feelings on the matter, a sort of "you're kidding right?" I sighed, no, no I'm not.

I was starting to feel dread in my stomach as our team began to line up. The chance to surprise the other team was dwindling, but I needed other people behind to help watch over-

Leikr was walking past, her bow and arrows had been traded in for a typical one-handed Falx sword. It was a sword that's blade took the shape of a scythe, but again, it was blunted and the curve was less severe.

"Leikr!" I called out to her and I was surprised when she actually stopped and turned to listen to me. "Do you want to join the charge, or stay behind to defend the spike?"

She seemed to think about it, then she tilted her head, gave the laziest shrug I've ever seen and ambled over.

"Are you and I the only ones guarding the spike?"

I had to strain to catch the soft questions, before giving a nervous laugh, "uh, at the moment we are…"

The teen flicked a tawny braid before eyeing the crowd with her sharp eyes. She seemed to spot someone, "Tryggr! Over here!"

For such a small and quiet girl, she had a fearsome voice, maybe that was all Viking girls? Voices that could make ears bleed if the girl so decided?

The copper haired boy turned around the instant he heard his name, he picked his way through the many bodies, "What's going on Leikr?"

The slip of a girl nodded in my direction, "Hiccup needs people to guard the spike, you up for staying behind?"

Another lazy grin, "Of course, means I don't have to run."

I rolled my eyes, but smiled. Well, it was nice to know the only reason we had guards was because two heirs were secretly lazy.

I looked up at the sudden cries of war, the main group for our team was now charging across the open field. Behind us, came the supportive -and some not so much- cries from the lounging adults.

----change to third person POV----

Snotlout was both flattered and very pleased with the fact his cousin had suggested that he become the commander for this event. As he charged forward, screaming a battle cry, he pulled up the hammer he had gotten to replace his more dangerous one; the one he had now was made of wood.

Yeah, it made sense. Wouldn't want to kill someone on accident. Ugh, but if he so much as saw a _hair _of Eldi or Ballung…

The run wasn't so bad, the field was huge though, so Snotlout was very happy when he saw the other team in sight. Some were sitting down in the grass, watching with vapid interest as the wrestling matches were _still_ going on. It wasn't too surprising, his team had only gotten done early though his groups teamwork.

"Eyvi!" Snotlout yelled to his right. The tall blond man looked over at his Commander.

"Take that flank and try to force them to move, let's make space for the Kriecher squads to make it back through."

After that Snotlout could spare no more of his brain to make plans. All of his mind was switched into battle mode, as his hammer met blades, axes, and other dulled weapons. Every time one landed on him it only hurt and that served to further frustrate and enrage him.

Surprise tactics worked extremely well Snotlout was noticing. The other team was fighting pell-mell and making random breaks into the melee to try and get closer to the blue team's border, only to make a hasty retreat when team member chased them off in glee.

He could see Astrid farther away down the front line, her graceful form easily knocking people about with the long handle of her axe. 'Good, this is very good' was what he thought as he met another blunted sword's strike.

He was so occupied, that he almost missed the fiery red hair of Eldi… almost. With a snarl of fury, the brunette happily disengaged from the girl who'd been swinging at him and altered his running to run head-long into Eldi.

Ballung would not be too far behind, but for right now… Snotlout smiled; now there was no second person to come charging at him from behind or from his sides. "Well now Eldi, I seemed to remember that you made me very mad yesterday, let's see if we can fix this."

The large teen lunged at the other boy, a grin on his face and his eyes hardened.

-------with Gromr----

The lanky boy raced as fast as he could, as quick as a rabbit and as unnoticed as a mouse. His small team managed to keep up along side him, but one boy -Gallin if he recalled right- wasn't supposed to be in this group.

The homely boy stood corrected when he saw the little beast rip his sword from his back and managed to press a much older -and larger- boy into a defensive retreat. At this rate, Gromr felt his heart pound faster, they might just actually win!

The wooden pedestal was in sight now, only three guards were behind and the said guards looked like they would abandon the post at any moment, eager as they were to fight. All the better it would be if they decided it wasn't worth standing around and doing nothing, too stupid to realize that guarding was the most important thing.

Gromr slowed up, and then pretended to engage, as though they weren't slowly creeping closer to the spike. He was waiting with bated breath, the other team needed to-

Yes! The thin young man watched as the decoy team swooped in, whooping loudly and baiting the guards; who easily abandoned their posts, eager to battle with the "enemy" so close by.

Quick as a flash, Gromr led his own team forward. All were silent except for their panting gasps for air as they weaved easily between the last few teens who seemed to realize what was going on.

The group split then, Gromr, a girl he didn't know, and Gallin continued forward while the other four turned and engaged the pursuing other team. Gromr's entire focus was on the yellow spike though, and he had eyes for nothing else.

Gallin at his side made an inhuman howl as he took a rather nasty hit to his side, but the snarling child snapped and leapt back to his feet; his sword out and whirling. The girl was his only guard now as he lunged forward and felt his hand grasp the Nadder's spike.

A feeling of pride welled up in him, but he would have to celebrate later. Dropping to his knee, he yanked up his woolen pant leg, and carefully tied the spike to his calf with two pieces of twine; tightly. The girl stood guard in front of him and she shifted restlessly, her head turning in every direction. "Hurry up!" She hissed, as she eyed the clashes of children in front of her, it would only be so long until they noticed.

Standing up, Gromr nodded and the two dashed back. The brunette ran like he was possessed, his only thought was to make it back, every surge forward he felt the cold spike secure against his leg.

Galling appeared again, bruised and with a cut forehead, but he gave a huge white grin as he ran alongside; happily leaping at random red-team members as they made a hasty retreat back to their own side.

-----with Toothless----

He couldn't stand it any longer. For the black beast, it had been too long since he'd see all the sky and breathed in truly fresh air. The hold was too confining and honestly, Toothless was very lonely.

He knew his human tried and was very pleased to be pampered so every night, but the niggling feeling that something might happen to the thin boy was enough to want to face the droves of Vikings that he could smell with his very keen nose.

The ships were abandoned, there was no need to guard them, the island was full of Vikings, what would possibly attack that? It was great, Toothless decided, to be able to stretch out long-cramped muscles and unfurl his wings.

On the deck, he was able to observe the full island, his eyes squinting terrible and the large dragon nearly squalled in pain. The light was even brighter over the water, and the dragon's eyes were too used to the more gloomy hold. It was worth it though, the fresh sea breezes, the salty tang of the air, and the warm sunshine bleeding into his pitch-dark scales.

Now to find Hiccup. The dragon leapt into the air and managed to glide -sort of- down to the sandy beach, humming in pleasure briefly as he made contact with such deliciously warm sand.

Now if Toothless were a human, where would he hide?

-----back with Hiccup-----

I let out a shout of victory when I saw Gromr speeding back as though Hel's hounds were at his heels. I would have never had seen Vrangi, had it not been for the look of horror on the said brunettes face.

I turned and caught sight of the black haired boy as he was reaching for the spike from behind the pedestal, having snuck up from all the way behind. "Get him!"

Tryggr leapt like a compressed spring released, his dull sword knocking the other teen away with the blunt edge. "Sneaky little bastard snake." the grey-eyed boy growled out.

Vrangi picked himself up and pulled out his axe, which to my horror but not surprise, was still sharp.

"Oh, now that isn't very nice is it?" the icy-eyed boy surged forward, his axe blade hacking at Tryggr's sword. As those two descended into combat, I saw two familiar teens that usually curtailed to Vrangi run forward. One engaged Leikr, the other charged toward me. I drew my Seaxe, a standard weapon all children and adults kept, and met his -again not very shocking- unsharpened sword.

It was a brief altercation; the other boy swept a leg behind my fake foot and swiped it out from under me. I landed hard on my back and looked up dazed as the other boy poised to stab me, it was all very surreal, why would he want to stab me?

----With Toothless----

Toothless felt his heart seize up when he saw his human pinned to the grass. He'd been observing in confusion the last few minutes, trying to figure out what on earth possessed humans to be even more crazy than what they already were.

But now he felt his muscles tensing, he started to fling himself and his wings snapped out, Hiccup could yell at him about revealing himself-

Toothless recoiled back at the last moment, as he saw one of the other humans lunge at the offender, both of them reeling off to the side. Toothless debated on whether or not he should still intervene, but it looked like they had finally managed to get the upper hand.

----With Hiccup----

The only thing I could think of when I thought I was about to die, was that Toothless would be so pissed at me dying and not being able to be near to enough to save me.

Tryggr had bowled the other boy over and I climbed to my feet as fast as I could. I limped quickly to where the two boys were rolling about and aimed the blunt end of my seaxe for the back of the boy's neck.

It was all over quickly after that. Gromr made it to the boundary and with a flourish produced the spike. Madness ensues in the form of Grimi seizing his boy by his shoulders and swinging him about, "My boy brought back the spike!"

I felt myself flush at the warm thumps and kind laughter of my teammates because my plan had pulled out a victory. It was nice, and I was content… until I looked up into the inclining woods to see a very black dragon with sparkling green eyes.

I nearly fainted at that, but it was impossible to break away to go see him-

"You should have seen your son, Gaggar, you've taught him well!" Shield was happily patting the other leader's back as Gallin stood near them, his head respectively bowed.

"He could do better if he didn't let his wild side get take hold of him," Gaggar gave a small sneer at the boy, but snorted, "Let's go boy."

Gallin hurried after his father, his eyes peeking back once and giving me a small wave. I regretfully waved back, but he would be fine tonight, his father seemed in a decent enough mood.

I turned to see my own please father, loudly proclaiming to the world that his son was such a good tactician and think of all the battles that I would win because of it. I smiled, to humor him, and turned my attention back up to the forest, giving the smallest of waves.

I saw the black form almost shimmer, then it disappeared back into the woods. Odin be praised the adults would all be busy with the spear contest, the teens would be watching to learn, and the children would be passed out from their weariness. The dragon would be safe enough for now, until I could slip away later.

I hoped.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, it took forever to write, hehe. Not much new to be said, other than another random fact.

Most Viking males tended to keep their beards at whatever length was comfortable for them, some going from beardless to a full beard. Goatees existed, and some younger men (as they do today) would wear one, moustaches were carefully trimmed. Vikings men also either chose to keep their hair as short to the shoulders, but not shorter because only thralls (slaves) kept their hair shorter. Men also bleached their hair more than female Vikings, using a very pure lye soap that bleached the strands.

1) They might have had this saying, as nail were being made, but just by hand.

Thank you all for reading, part two will be up in a few days… hopefully if life doesn't get in the way again (but knowing life it will).

I know at the beginning of the chapter I said that I would be slowing down on the rate of how many chapters I churn out, but here's a general idea of what stories are being updated next:

This is taking a while (sorry for the delay!) - Outcast chapter four

Thursday- It Takes A Village

Friday/Saturday- MVB Day Two part Two


	6. Day Two pt Two

Hello everyone! Thanks for all the great reviews, fave's, and alerts! I'm happy to present to you chapter six and wish you all good reading!

**Warnings**: None for this chapter

**Rating**: T

**Disclaimer**: I do not own and I am making no money! All rights belong to someone who is not me!

A/Note: Er, well, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! This chapter will cover the last half of the second day; it's a little bit later than noon, so quite a bit to write about. I originally planned to have one chapter for each day, but after about 30 pages, my hands rebelled and started to write nothing that I wanted them to write. In fact, I think they managed to type, 'strike, strike, strike' in a row! Also, if later in this chapter, I sound sexist towards women I'm not. I'm a female myself (which I know means nothing, hehe), but this is the mindset for 900 A.D. Yes, it may suck to us now, or we might think 'why did women put up with it?'

Well, that's because they were -most likely- raised to be like that. Also, many probably even took pride in being a good wife and mother, like women still now do. I whole-heartedly agree that the hardest job in the world is to raise children; just in 900 A.D there were no women becoming war lords and leading villages because they probably _didn't want_ to. They were happy with their roles, and took great pride in it. That's not to say there weren't a few girls who were unhappy with being expected to get married and raising a family and _did_ go out and conquer things, but they probably would have been talked about in hushed whispers. In the movie, there were female dragon-slayers, so they get an out there huh? No one was exempt from having children and a family. Men had to have children; women had to have children, which was the main thought after they reached an age to be married. I'm not a History major, and I have not studied Vikings outside of tracking down books on them; if I'm wrong, PM me and let me know, politely though please. Your Milage May Vary!

Random Trivia You Might Know: Most places where Scandinavians practiced pagan rituals were in open areas, most likely in pre-ordained "holy" grasslands and meadows and named things like, "Odin's Meadow."

Semnones, believed that there was an island in the middle of an ocean and it was named to hold a sacred grove of trees. There was one tree in particular, so holy that only one priest could ever touch it and commune with the Gods. Trees are very special to Vikings, their chief God Odin was said to have speared himself upside down to a tree called, Yggsdrasil or the world tree, for nine days and nights to gain wisdom.

I can only ask you all to be kind and remember that this is fan fiction XD.

**THANK YOU BASSCLONE 13 AND SLAYN,** my wonderful betas!

Chapter Six: Tag Zwei Part 2

---General POV---

Stoick rotated a shoulder as he eyed the targets in the far distance. Gobber stood beside him, looking off in the same general direction, but his eyes were focused more on the smoke curling up from where the village ate their meals, "When do you think we'll be eating?"

Stoick raised an eyebrow, "I suppose after we finish the contest…"

Gobber hiked up his pants, "Well then, what say you and I finish this, I hear they made lovely stew for us to snack on. What with all the work and all."

The large red head smiled at the thought of a third meal being added during the day, what a strange concept. The man had to smile at his friend though, he was always thinking about his undies or his stomach.

The spear competition was open to all tribes, men and women. The main break-down of each event could be described the same all throughout, it was too much work for a vacation to come up with separate rules for each event.

Each tribe would have a group of ten for each event; no ten men could be picked twice. One event was all each was allotted; including the leader. It was a tough decision for Stoick to make, not the toughest by far, but what would he be better suited for? Spear throwing, bola throwing, or wrestling?

The foot race was out of the question for Gobber, as much as the stubborn blond hated to admit it, and Stoick didn't want to waste his one event by participating in one that he wasn't even good at.

The spear and bola competition was a good choice, but really, wouldn't he be better at wrestling? Spitelout already agreed to run in the footraces, and Balin would be riding for the horseback races.

Stoick nodded, "Gobber, you'll be taking the spear and bola throw. I'll take the wrestling."

Gobber knew at the very least when to bow out gracefully, "Ah, I always did have a longer throw than you, eh?" He tossed a conspirative wink in the taller man's direction and stepped up, "Alright then," he boomed, "Let's get going! There is a bowl of stew with my name on it and it's getting cold!"

The other men turned and stared, before the general mindset of wanting to _do_ something, instead of standing around, settled in.

Shield walked forward, his hands outstretched dramatically and obviously tickled over all the attention his tribe was being given as the hosts, "After such a wonderful first event, we now move on to the spear and bola throw!"

A roar of cheers erupted, from participants and observers alike, a small army of bored Vikings, all ready for something to do. This was good; having a Gather without planned events spelled disaster and a general breakdown of everything. Vikings needed something to do, which is why none wanted to die and visit Hel's realm; a place of mist, boredom, and nothing to participate in. It was every Vikings worst nightmare, so when Gathers came about, it made sense to push for the adults to all get into the games. And in true Viking fashion, they didn't just enjoy the games, they breathed it in; like everything else, they jumped in head first waving their battle arms and screaming like a sea lion gone mad.

"The rules are easy. For the spear contest, the spear the farthest thrown and with the best accuracy, wins. For the bola contest, those with the best aim that hits the target is the winner. Each winner will receive points for their respective tribes and the points will be added up at the end of the week!"

Stoick thumped Gobber on the back and strode back to the crowd, each tribe generally separated on their own accord; multiple stained colored kerchiefs ran rampant. Generally speaking, usually the women wore their kerchiefs to keep their hair out of their faces during work; but they served a new purpose in identifying.

It saved leather reserves and was more easily died and prepared; easier was better for the most part during vacations. Now standing with the rest of his tribe, Stoick eagerly joined in with the goading and the cheering. The stray thought, _"Now where did Hiccup wander off too- oh? That was a good toss, Agi had been practicing."_ Stoick nodded as he saw a dependable looking lad from Raobaror's tribe heave a spear with all his might. _"Very good, Gobber will still trounce the poor lad, oh well, he'll have to do better next gather."_

----With Hiccup----

It hadn't been very hard at all to slip away from the amassed group of Vikings. Vikings that had attention spans that ran no further, at this moment in time anyway, than where their next meal was going to be served, and when the competition was going to start picking up. They were adults everyday for seven years; this would be one week where they were not going to act their ages.

First stop of the trip today, I decided, was to get the nearly ruined saddle from the cargo hold to repair, if that was at all possible. After that, it wouldn't be hard at all to track down Toothless, but I'd have to be extraordinarily careful, many children had even shorter attention spans than the "adults" and would most likely be wandering around, getting up into trouble.

Tomorrow held one event in the morning, Horseback Races, a favorite of mine, as a child I had always dreamed of participating in that race someday. Out of all the competitions, it would be the one that I was most suited to. I knew I was strong enough to at least handle the horse, and I was light enough not to drag it down with my weight; that and even then it seemed animals were more accepting to me. I wondered if it was because I've been always so afraid of my, er, fellow humans, I didn't have much room left for being afraid of horses and dogs.

Didn't matter now, I smiled as I approached the beach and the ships; now I had something even better than a horse or a dog to ride and race…

This brought a pause to my hurried stride, my boot felt like it was swimming in the thick sand, and my fake foot was doing no better. But was it really possible? Could someday Vikings even have dragon racing at Gathers? I nearly drooled at such a thought; imagine what it would be like!

I kneeled down then, my knee pushing into the sand as I tore off the boot and tucked it under an arm. My toes wiggled eagerly in the pleasantly cool sand of the beach, and I found myself murmuring unintelligibly at the sensation.

Then it was up the gang plank and down into the holds. The walk was quick, as quick as I could make it, and there was no noise other than the soft padding of my bare foot and the metal foot making a dullish tap against the polished wood.

It was strange to have it so silent, after three days of hearing all kinds of noises; I shuddered at the remembrance, now it was eerie being too quiet. I nervously darted into the hold, squinting in the hazy gloom and made my way over to the abandoned saddle off near a group of boxes. It didn't seem any worse off, but it had stiffened considerably. Sighing, I flipped it up over a shoulder and made my journey back.

Up on the deck, I hummed happily as I approached the gangplank. It was nice here on this island, and I was growing a tad jealous of my Uncle's tribe. They had the perfect temperature all year long, not warm enough to run around in just loincloths, but not cold enough to bundle up in multiple furs. They were an island tribe, the same as my tribe was, but it was a few degrees warmer, which meant more of a variety of things to eat from the sea.

It was really a good setup, I thought and stepped off the plank and slowly across the beach.

I was a bit surprised, actually, that I hadn't run into any of his cousins friends, or Vrangi's group of blood-thirsty little Nightmares. On the other hand, I was sorely missing the presence of my own little group; which I'd unwittingly began to expand to include Gromr, Gallin, and on occasion Leikr and Tryggr.

Then again, Astrid would be with her family and being praised for her great fighting during the "war". Snoutlout was probably buried beneath masses of lumps, bruises, and good-wishing hands patting his back as he was the leader for the event; which was good, he needed things like that every now and again to keep him from thinking to deeply on the subject that someday, I would be the leader despite my…size and obvious eccentric tendencies. That was not to say the Snoutlout was upset and jealous, more that he was confused as to how he would fit into the situation. As a child, he'd never been "kind" to me, and only recently did we become true friends like cousins, in my humble opinion, should be. It wasn't very surprising that he'd wonder where he stood with me. The idea that I was willing to cheer on Snotlout becoming the "leader" if only for a competition meant a lot to the brunet.

The twins, they were a mystery. They had been on the winning team and had fought like cornered TerrorFangs. They had received their sizeable amount of "Great Jobs," and "Fight every bit like your parents," that last one earned the biggest grins. What child didn't like to hear that they were just like the very people they looked up to?

I was willing to bet anything that Fishlegs had nearly exploded at all the praise and probably had gone off to find Gromr, whom was also probably near the point of collapsing from the sheer amazement that he'd brought back the spike.

If there was anyone that I felt the most pride for though, it was most certainly the quiet, mousy brunet that, hours before, had been no one. Now, every way the boy turned, there was praise and hurrahs from the adults.

I really hoped it wouldn't change the boy too much, it was hard to resist such a temptation to walk around with your nose in the air after such an accomplishment, but judging from how the boy kept tossing shy smiles toward Ruffnut, and open-mouthed grins to the gang, I wasn't too worried about it.

Personally, I was more worried for poor little Gallin. Despite the boy being a general amazement in the way of his prowess on the battlefield, the boy still had the wide-eyed fear when he looked after his father. Even though he was great at fighting, there was a long way for the small boy to grow, and no one from any tribe would be lying when they said that Gaggar was vicious when it came to fights.

Perhaps from the elder man's view, it was not abuse. Gallin was mute and the lad on his own would never inspire the respect and fear that a Viking leader looked for in his tribe. While my father was a kind leader, none of the villagers would think to go against his commands, because he'd proven time and time again that he was not a man to be messed with.

It was a legitimate fear; I decided as I neared the mostly deserted village where the host's tribe lived all year round, that Gaggar was _worried_ that his son might be too weak to handle it. Many people wondered why Gaggar had no other children, but he focused all his attention on trying to get his heir toughened up to handle being mute in a society of, admittedly, loud people.

While I disproved of the way the father went about it, Gallin _was_ a nightmare to encounter on a battlefield, though, I was sure the boy would never try to harm a person who made fun of him off a battlefield. The memory of Swanwhite rose to the front of my mind's eye. It probably wouldn't please Gaggar to know that his son was letting a girl insult him and push him around, but Gallin just didn't seem to have much heart in being mean or nasty to any_thing_. And I whole-heartedly meant this too, that little girl was no sweet little child that Hiccup had thought she would be.

From tearing up my poor, lonely boot, to tipping over my food, and to dribbling honey near my sleeping grass mats to attract ants, she was a little Fleshfang; the world's second most dangerous dragon that sucked blood out of its prey's veins. It didn't help at all that her brother was giving her _pointers_ on how to drive me insane; it was only the second day!

When I was safe enough from the sucking sand of the beach, I replaced the boot on my, now slightly cold, foot. The main village where the host tribe lived wasn't terribly far away. There would be some place there to attempt a repair for Toothless's saddle.

I edged around curious women who were trading secrets over how to make the best recipes for rabbits and venison as I was trying to make a quick trek through the village, the tannery would no doubt be as far away as reasonably possible from the living quarters, due to how terrible it smelled.

I passed more women that were giggling as they sanded wooden cups to a smooth finish. Some would think that the women would be upset about their lot in life, but really they reveled in it. It was the best of both worlds really, in their opinions. After all, they could go hunting, fishing, and into battles and at the same time they could fulfill their desires to raise their children. If a man wanted to try his hand at cooking and raising children, he'd be laughed right out of the village, and if a man wanted to assume _any_ roll that was considered feminine, his manliness was on the line. It was easier to accept if the man was able to beat any of those that laughed at him into submission, but the problem did not arise much, no man wanted to sacrifice how other men viewed him by doing anything "womanly".

The women on the other hand, had no problems on doing anything manly. They could go on raids, fight dragons, pillage distant lands; all while being _expected_ to take care of gardens, children, and her husband's possessions. Gather's were even more of a pleasure for said women, who were able to see their distant friends and relatives; exchange gossip and trade hand-made projects.

Again, I paused at that, it would be a toss-up to decide _who_ had the most fun during gathers, the unattended children, those over seven anyway, the men who were seemed to develop a pack-esque frame of mind, or the women who grouped together and happily swapped stories.

It was a distance away from the rest of the village when I finally made it to the building. Shaking my head, I shoved open the heavy door and walked inside, unsurprised to see a few men off to the side. They were not elderly by any stretch, but were in a deep discussion over, ironically, saddles for the races tomorrow.

I walked over to the nearest work table and settled down eagerly to work. The first thing was to replace the rotted straps, but now looking closely over the saddle, I felt despair raise up; it was completely ruined. Even if I were to replace the straps to the seat of the saddle, it was too frayed and rotted. Annoyed, I sighed, it was to be expected. I had been in such a hurry to finish it originally I hadn't rubbed enough tallow mixture into it to make sure it would be properly water proof, and no leather was able to hold up to a soaking of salt-water, considering it was wholly organic and would rot no matter what over time.

I was naturally very upset; it would take way longer than a week to tan good leather, try a year, needed to make a proper saddle all over again, and really calling it a saddle was a bit of a stretch. Horse saddles were made using a wooden "tree" which was a wooden base frame the leather would rest over. Toothless's saddle lacked that, there was no firm base for me to sit on; mostly it was just a stuffed leather pack, comfortable for both Toothless and I.

It could take a few days to smoke leather for minor things, but I needed strong leather that would hold up in the air and from the condensation that would collect from flying so high in the air.

I sighed audibly, drawing the attention of the other men; they looked up curiously, the owner of the building drifted over. The man whistled at the condition of the leather pack-saddle. "That's a rough saddle there boy, didn't make its trip 'cross the sea, did it?"

Still mourning over the loss of the saddle, I looked up at the blond man, he was stocky and muscular. Hair cut to the shoulders and a neat beard trimmed close to the chin; a few years younger than my father.

"It got wet when the Sea Serpent sunk the ship that carried it." Which was not a lie, it _did_ get wet, only it was on Toothless when the ship was sinking.

The man clucked his tongue against his teeth and sighed sadly, "Heard about that, terrible thing to happen to such a wonderful ship." The two other men that he'd been talking to ducked their heads in similar fashion, all aching at the thought of such a finely-worked ship sinking.

"Well, are you to be in the races?" He was back to observing the saddle, broad hands picking up stiff straps and hmming at them. The blond looked up for a moment, his eyes sweeping my thin form, "You're a bit young for it aren't you?"

I tossed him a nervous smile, "I'm not in the races tomorrow, I want to be though, someday."

Again it wasn't a lie, but really, I hoped to be racing something that was four-legged with wings.

"Name's Hanhista, you must be Hiccup, Stoick's lad," He leaned over, his face still facing the saddle as he poked it about, "You're father is a great man, very brave."

Vigorously, I nodded, wholly agreeing. My father _was_ a great man, a great leader, a great dad; I knew that Odin had blessed me. "Is your trade Tanning?"

It was a respectable trade, right along with being a black-smith, vital and necessary to everyday life. A tanner was the person to go to discuss anything about any kind of leather, and there were many. Any animal produced leather, cattle, dragons, sheep, and chamois.

The man burst into deep laughter, the men that had come to watch at the end of the table joined in. I had the out-of-my-depth feeling as though I might have unwittingly just insulted the man, but couldn't think of how my question was funny.

"You could say that. Now, about this saddle, what were you planning on doing?"

I shook my head, "I hadn't seen to it well-enough; it's hopeless. I was going to scrap it and start over."

Hanhista nodded, "Well, that is admirable. You know when to not keep plucking away at a hopeless project. What say you to this? I give you some new materials to work with? When do you need this saddle by?"

The man moved off to the side of the building and began to shift through leather already worked.

Opening my mouth, I was about to respond, but the man was already talking again, "Let's see here, your previous leather was cattle and stitched with pig gut," He trailed off as he drew out an awl, lengths of dried and very strong gut, and several squares of supple leather.

"But-but, why are you giving me any leather at all?"

I wasn't stupid, I knew exactly how much time and effort was involved in making good-quality leather, which the squares being place in front of me most certainly was. The leather was a darkened honey color, rubbed with tallow and cod-oil to a perfect burnished finish; supple and very strong.

The men smiled, "I can tell you made that saddle yourself, and it was well-made. Consider it a gift for helping your team gain a victory today. It was quite a show, and kept us very entertained," he leaned in close again, "Plus your father would probably come in here and start baying like a hound that I denied his son materials for a new saddle."

He winked, "Don't tell him I said that though. Your father packs a mean punch; I'm sure many Nightmares can attest to that."

My throat felt tight and I was moved to near tears, "Thank you, he'll appreciate this."

Hanhista looked uncomfortable and waved the boy's gratitude off, "Naw, I'll tell you who's going to appreciate that, your horse will. Oh and that reminds me," he stalked over and pulled out the familiar yellow hide of a chamois.

"This," He gestured to the leather with his other hand, "needs to be rubbed and worked a little. After that you can sew it to the underside of the saddle and the straps. You're horse will never be more appreciative, I assure you."

My hand reached out and took the unbelievably soft leather, chamois were known for having the most wonderful leather. So soft that it could be used to swaddle a newborn in, and to have some given to me for no reason at all!

Hanhista put up one hand to ward off my coming praise and thanks, "It's my job to provide every tribe here with good-quality leather for whatever they need. No reason to thank me for doing my job, now, I suggest you get to working. We," he gestured to his friends, "are off to watch the spear competition.

Without another word they left me alone to work. Eyeing the room, I saw a large wooden container that was not doubt soaking the pelts in lime and, er, other things that I was loathe to think about. You needed a very strong stomach to work hides and pelts into leather, and I was willing to leave it at that.

It took a few hours to properly awl the leather and then sew it up carefully. It was almost blasphemous in my mind to ruin the poor chamois leather, but I knew Toothless would be delighted by the soft leather and it would no longer chafe so terribly.

It was a relief when I finally started to stuff the padded leather with wool and soft plant fibers, then to cheerfully sew that up as well. When the whole project was finished I eagerly jumped from my seat and was about to rush off with the saddle, but I paused when I saw the tools lying out.

Nothing annoyed me more than tools being left out where they could be lost or someone could hurt themselves. Though I had never been to this Tannery before, I had a pretty good idea where everything should be placed, and set about putting the tools back. When that was finished, I nodded, grabbed a few scraps of the chamois, and also a large lidded container filled with cod-oil, tallow, and crushed flower petals; a sad attempt to combat the horrible stench.

Now all that was left to do was find Toothless… not a very hard task, but it required a lot of walking. Basically, all the way to the other side of the island, up the steady incline of the land until I was looking over the open field, pausing to watch as my father's tribe took their turn. Frankly, I was surprised the competition was still running. I watched as Gobber lobbed a bola and it wrapped around a spear in the ground with perfect accuracy.

So Gobber was taking this event, then no doubt my father would be taking the wrestling, despite my father's talent for the bola. Absently I made a mental note to be there to watch the wrestling that would be two days from now, if we weren't caught by then. I sighed, hiked up the saddle, and continued onward.

When I was at the highest part of the island, overlooking the water and the land I'd painstakingly walked across sprawled out behind me, I set the saddle and the unguent down. "Toothless?" looking around, I was taken by surprise as a large black blur raced over and knocked me out flat.

I lay there looking up into green eyes before I cracked up laughing at the dragon's exuberance. "Hey Buddy." I pushed the dragon off, and Toothless let me, if he didn't want to be pushed off, there was no way I would be able to.

Toothless automatically curled around me, making crooning growls, "I know, I know." I laughed feeling joy and a carefree feeling bubble up, "But look what I made you, this is what took me so long!"

I dramatically brandished the saddle and presented it to the dragon, "For the dear King Dragon of the skies, born of thunder and lighting, I present to you your new saddle."

Toothless cocked his head to make it seem as though he were staring down upon me at all my praise, comically batting his eyes and turning his head to make his shiny black scales flash, happy at such praise, but willing to draw a laugh from his human at the same time.

Which was successful, as I began to laugh; releasing pent-up tension and allowing me to truly relax. "So look at this!"

I excitedly pulled out the chamois, fingers fumbling in my haste, and rubbed a bit of it over the soft hide of Toothless's snout. The dragon blinked in surprised and then gave a delighted croon. He made a warbling inquiring sound and I nodded happily laughing, "Yup, I even got this!"

Picking up the wooden container, a bowl really, I pulled off the thick top and held my breath while presenting it to Toothless. The black dragon was nearly beside himself in joy over the unguent, it smelled like one of his favorite foods, actually it all smelled like food; which reminded the dragon of how hungry he was, but that could wait. Anything could be put on hold while I dipped the soft leather in the oily substance and rubbed the scaled dragon.

Purrs of pleasure was the only noise heard as I grinned like an idiot over the whole situation; of course Toothless would love this. The oil soothed away itchiness of the skin growing beneath and when I smoothed it carefully over the skin on the wings, it dislodged flakes of dead skin and oiled it to keep it from hurting.

I was only half-way done when I heard a throat being cleared behind me. My heart clenched, and my guts tied themselves up into knots, but-but Toothless hadn't even _moved_. If he was discovered by someone that could speak, _Toothless-_

I glaced quickly down, stunned at the picture of the relaxed dragon. Wouldn't he react? He would never allow someone so close if he didn't know them. But,

'_Well of course he isn't reacting, he's nearly asleep.'_

I turned slowly, every nerve buzzing with fear and nearly collapsed into a ball of relief when I saw that it was the DTG. In Snotlout's burly arms was a struggling and very upset Gallin whose mouth was covered to keep him from screeching in anger.

I didn't know what to do first, apologies were the first thing that I could comprehend, "I'm sorr-"

Astrid raised a hand to cut my spews of apologies off, "its fine," She smiled softly, knowingly, and elbowed Snotlout, "I told you he'd do it!"

The twins were grinning, "Now why didn't you tell us sooner? Was this where you disappeared to when we couldn't find you?" Ruffnut asked.

"Ohhh, this means that Snotlout had "help" when he "single-handedly" defeated the sea serpent." Tuffnut gleefully pointed out.

Behind me Toothless snorted, I gave a weak grin, just from being sheerly overwhelmed at my friends not being upset for lying to them. More shocked that they seemed to already have had an idea of what I was up to.

Snotlout looked like he'd swallowed a lemon, as he continued to hold a struggling Gallin, "If you had told us, then I could have brought Rabble…"

I looked at him, able to grasp an idea of what it would be like to leave Toothless behind and remembering his little Terror, "That's why I couldn't, then you'd all want to bring- For the love of Odin, you can put him down!"

I suppressed a giggle as the nervous tension ebbed. Snotlout dropped the boy with a grunt, Gallin at this moment look like an affronted kitten as he darted off to hide behind Toothless. I was so out of it I nearly lost it, jumping a foot when I heard what sounded like a deep rasping growl, I looked behind me to chastise Toothless for scaring me.

I was almost bowled over in shock when I realized exactly _who_ had made the sound.

Gallin was the one that had made it! Trying to fight my way through shock, I was amazed as he tried out another sound, one that made a high, grating whine, and saw Toothless even cock his head to the side.

I guess it made sense, as my numb mind try valiently to wrap around the thought. Gallin's voice couldn't produce words, but it seemed he could make shrieks and other similar noises.

Astrid looked _very _interested in this new knowledge, "Do you think he's really going to be able to communicate?" I could see practically see the gears turning in her mind.

I looked eagerly back, if he could… would that mean that I could? Did that mean Toothless and I, could we actually communicate?

"By the way…" I turned back and saw Astrid with her arms crossed and obviously not impressed, "How does he know about Toothless anyway hmm?"

"Er…" cringing as I remembered exactly what that axe strapped on her back felt like when she knocked it into my gut.

I sighed; I couldn't wait for this day to be over.

-----end of chapter-----

Okay everyone, short I know. The next chapter will be nice and long! Enjoy, if any of you are like wtf about Gallin talking, here's what I researched:

There are some mute people whose vocal organs are not properly formed, some that have brain damage that doesn't allow them to control their vocal organs, and some who are deaf and prefer not to speak. For the sake of the story, I'm aiming for a partial-mute Gallin. His larynx is not properly formed and it is difficult for him to properly make the noises necessary for human speech; however screeches, moans, and croons are not as difficult.

Hanhista is Norse for horse XD

Have a good night!

**Thanks to one of my beta's for telling me the proper masculine form of brunette is brunet.**


	7. Day Three pt One

Don't give up on me! I'm so sorry for taking so long to get the next chapter out, but my life has been so busy lately, I haven't found the energy to actually write a coherent and succinct chapter. I realize it's been over a week now since the last update and plopped myself down in front of my laptop, with the mentality that I will not leave it until I have managed to produce a good chapter, so reap the rewards!

**Rating: T for Teens. I am not responsible if you are a preteen and can't handle anything you view here.**

**Warnings: No new developments here, same as past chapters.**

**Disclaimer: I still do not own, still wish I did, because that would be SWEET!**

**Thank you to my beta's: Bassclone 13 and Slayn for their terrific work!**

Note: When this POV switches to mostly Ruffnut's POV there is a line typed "Vrangi was not stupid, despite being your typical average teen boy," this is not meant to offend and is meant to be humorus. As the POV for this part is mostly from Ruffnut's POV, the connotation and choice of words is specifically chosen to show the way she might think. As a female teen, and a Viking teen at that, I'm sure she must not think too highly of most of her brother and his peers when they choose to act like complete fools.

Chapter Seven- Tag Drei pt one

I opened my eyes to the sound of thunderous snores, no surprise there, and the almost non-existent sounds of the other villagers as they began to stir. It was an amazing thing really, for all of us to be so close to one another and to be able to hear every sigh, gasp, moan, and whisper.

I was not eager in any way to leave my sleeping mat, even less so to crawl out from beneath the woolen blankets. My uncle's island was warmer than our own by far, but it was by no means _hot_. Mornings were a bit frosty, but when the sun came out, as it did much more often than my village's island, it got warm very quickly.

But, it was not warm now. That was the very base of my dilemma. I wanted very badly to get up, go see Toothless, and then maybe if I had time to go see the horses before they were raced later in the afternoon.

I rolled over on the mat, trying to get more comfortable. I could make out the sleeping figures that occupied the tent. My father was the closest, clearly visible and _audible_. To his side was Uncle Spitelout, a smaller but no less formidable, bulk. Beyond him lay his wife and at the very other side of the tent was my cousin.

I couldn't see him from here, too many bodies and not enough light to filter through the treated leather tent. He had been pretty depressed about my stowing away Toothless and not having known about it. Astrid, of course, was the first one to the honey cakes as usual. She'd known what was up probably before even _I _knew what was going to happen regarding Toothless.

I felt bad, bad that I hadn't told them since I knew now that they were very calm and accepting about the whole matter. Strange, because I had these wild, and well… rather plausible, ideas that we would have all our dragons down in the hold; the very thought of the random villager finding them… ugh. The following consequences wouldn't have been very pretty.

They might have even decided that it was necessary to take Toothless. Their dragons listened to them, and rather suspiciously now that I gave it thought about it, more than Toothless did to me. Perhaps that wasn't quite right. The large black dragon listened perfectly well; he just chose not to obey half the time unless he was partial to the task at hand.

I wouldn't have it any other way. There was something amazing and just downright other-worldly about having such an equally, or nearly so, intelligent creature that wanted to be near me and didn't mind carrying me. Dogs were smart, horses were even more so and some more avid horseback riders swore that their horses understood them. I believe that, but Toothless, Toothless seemed to have an understanding that seemed equal to my own intelligence.

He could _reason_, he could look at the outcome and was smart enough to think to himself, _'No, that seems like too much work,' _or _'No, that seems to be too dangerous.' _Then act accordingly to each situation.

He, and I could no longer think of him as the same kind of he one would think of as a dog, had _ruined_ all other animals I could ever hope to call a companion. He'd elevated himself to the status of a friend, one that lent his abilities to fly, and his strength to a friend who the great creature knew would appreciate it. And in return… well, what _did_ I give back in return?

Yes, I kept his hide clean and his scales healthy. I made sure he had all he could want to eat, even though the dragon was perfectly capable of hunting down his own meals. Sure, he couldn't fly by himself, but I was no fool. I had seen the graceful being easily leap and glide with the finesse only a Night Fury seemed to be capable of. Toothless could certainly live on his own in a large open continent. Was I just deluding myself? Was _I_ the one that was the pet?

Even so… I was surprised that I wasn't completely upset over just the faintest idea of being considered a pet. Really though, I had no claws, no sharp teeth, no muscles –at all really- to speak of. I was an accessory, I helped him fly and… he put up with me?

I hated how doubtful my thoughts were of Toothless, he had been more than faithful over the last year. It was to be expected though, besides the tribe leader of Dragon's Eye, there were no real peaceful encounters between dragon races and humans. Even if it was just our circumstances, Toothless allowed me, _me_, of all humans to ride him. He could have just chosen to eat me when I released him, and even later when I showed up idiotically with nothing but a fish for an apology.

"Hey sorry about your tail, now you can't fly. Yeah, thought you might be a little pissed at that, so yeah. Have a fish! All better!"

Some how, for whatever reason, the Gods have decreed my life to be the most unconventional life for a Viking _to ever_ have lived. Be scrawny and weak? Check that. Be socially awkward in a society of rather social and not-so-awkward people. Check that too. Utterly fail at everything attempted, and when finally accomplishing something, let it go? Check and Check. Hmm, I seemed to be missing something… oh yeah! Make friends with a dragon and then save a village? Got it done!

I groaned in annoyance, and brought my palms up to rub my face tiredly. I wasn't sure if was physical weariness, or if it was my mind just tapping out to the much more tough, and brawny, facts of life.

'_The Gods either adore me, or they really, really do not like me. At this point…'_

I couldn't lament over it too much, I mean come on! A dragon? Outside? That likes me and not in the "Vikings-are-a-nice-delicacy-to-wash-down- extra- virgins" way either?

Maybe I was being too dramatic over this, Dad did always say that I thought too much. Needless to say, the other members of my little group were not terribly upset that I had stowed Toothless on board. I say terribly because, well, Snotlout would not give up the rant that a Terrible Terror, would not have been _so_ suspicious.

Personally, I wouldn't have minded if I wasn't flying into the situation half-crazy myself. But if I agreed to Snotlout bringing his Terrible Terror, there was no way the Nightmare would go unnoticed as it's coloring alone was enough to turn heads, then all the others would surely bring their own smaller pet dragons. Many had a Terrible Terror running about their homes, and a pack of Terrors running around a semi-fireproof ship? Semi-fireproof that was only because of the tar-soaked oaken boards? Not a very good idea, especially considering the Terror's love stirring up trouble when things got too boring for their fire-hot blood.

A particularly large snore erupted from my father, causing the mountain of a man to snort himself into wakefulness, icy blue irises peering through half-slits. They made a lazy sweep of half the tent, the half that the large man was facing, and then he closed his eyes once more, sleep reclaiming him.

I heaved a sigh, squirming slightly on my shoulders while arching my back; I knew that I should check on Toothless. Twitching, I slowly relaxed and crawled out from beneath the blanket. Blinking a few times, I attempted to clear the caked sleep sand from my eyes.

'_Cold, cold, cold, cold.' _My mind played the mantra religiously, icy cold air freezing my wriggling toes as I slipped my one boot on my right foot. I rubbed my rounded stump, trying to warm it, before I reached for my prosthetic and attached it.

I climbed unsteadily to my foot, and a sharp stab sliced into my heel and the pain traveled up my leg like a creeping vine. I hopped awkwardly about on my fake leg, wobbling and cursing as I tried to find balance. I wind-milled back, before I over balanced and fell through the opening of the tent. The tent itself gave a suspicious, and somewhat anguished, howl itself but it didn't snap off its fastenings.

I tried to ignore the burning throb, as it ebbed and flowed with each beat of my heart, while I pulled of my boot and removed a wicked inch long thorn, gritting my teeth as I pulled it out of my heal.

I only had one sure foot to begin with, what kind of little monster would hobble my only real ability to get about?

Oh, wait, I could think of quite a few… Swanwhite and Gudreck were the first to come to mind, I flung the thorn away with a disgusted expression.

I released a low snarling hiss; similar to the sound of boiled-over water that hit red-hot hearth stones before I was even conscious of the sound. As quickly as the rage climbed up into my throat, it was already receding back like a monstrous wave.

I found myself blinking wearily down at the bleeding heel; the idea of walking on the injured limb was not a pleasant one. Abruptly aware of the frosty air, and how my rear felt like it was about to freeze itself fast to the ground, I yelped and put the boot back on, leaping up in my haste to warm up a bit.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch..." Dear sweet Odin, when I saw that little blonde haired brat, I was snipping her hair to her scalp; she would count herself lucky if I didn't see fit to shave it bald. Let's see her prance around with her nose in the air when she was missing her prized nearly-white locks.

The journey to a secluded bluff near the edge of the clearing was not a particularly pleasant one, what with the injured foot, the freezing uneven ground, and my chattering teeth, but it was managed before the first rays of the sun cheerfully beamed across the horizon.

I pulled my over-tunic closer to my shuddering body and pulled one quivering hand up to my mouth. A long, piercing whistle echoed out, and standing in the gloom, I glanced around restlessly. My ears all but pricked up to attention as I heard the nearly silent whishing of tall grasses. A black, blurred shape leapt fearlessly and proudly out of the brush and foliage.

I hissed between my teeth again, again unconsciously, but this time to try and convey my intense anxiety over the dragon being caught.

As per usual, I saw the proud head give a shake accompanied by a derisive snort. Toothless's smooth snout snaked towards me, his mouth opening slightly to scent the air better as he sniffed at my right foot. He gave a garbled whine and pulled back, this shockingly trace-inducing eyes linking with my own.

"It's fine Beschützer, I wasn't paying enough attention to where I was walking this morning." My best friend gave me a doubtful, searching stare, and I shuffled my foot awkwardly. I couldn't take up too much more time, the sun was rising quickly.

"Come on," I started, stepping forward and giving his sturdy shoulder a light slap, "let's get in the air before too many of us are awake to see you."

Toothless complied blithely, lowering his stomach to the air and heaving an annoyed huff. Whether it was at my inexperienced, still even after a year, scrambling onto his back or the cold ground pressing up underneath him, I couldn't tell.

I knew that Toothless was able to handle colder weather, he wouldn't have placed a shed scale near the coldness of Berk if he wasn't immune somewhat. It seemed though, that even he could grow annoyed at the dawn's chill.

I felt corded steel muscles bunch and we were in the air a split instant later. As the two of us left the ground, my fake foot already being consciously moved into the proper position, my eyes gazed over the frosted landscapes below.

When we weren't flying over a thick forest, the fields twinkled with innocent and beauty, catching dawn's new sunbeams and reflecting them in a rainbow of colors. Baldr had certainly been active this morning; his entire masterpiece was easily visible from upon Toothless's strong back.

I patted the sleek dark scales and then pressed in a bit with my right knee, signaling to Toothless he was free to wing out over the ocean. I knew he'd be anxious and eager to get after his breakfast.

With my mind left to wander, Toothless was taking his sweet time about where he wanted to fish this morning, I found myself studying the dark honey saddle. The leather work was truly wonderful, soft and sturdy. There was no doubt it was expertly tanned, and the special treated tallow was a mystery itself. There were many different ways to make a signature tanning mixture. Anything from simple fish oil mixed with whale blubber, to the more intricate rubbing mixtures that could contain upwards of ten different ingredients.

Not to mention the time it took to work such a wonderful honey gold color into the leather. Dying could take a good few months if the color was an unnatural one, the most hard to come by was leather of red or of white.

White leather, just the thought of the work made me shudder. It was reserved for only the most holy of our Gyoja. There was a secret process that was so guarded that the elderly women would only give it up upon their last dying breath.

The saddle I was currently attached to lurched downwards, my stomach shot into my throat and I scream, the sound ripped away whistling wind. Toothless had apparently spotted something tasty, and threw a Toothless smirk in my direction.

Whatever his reaching claws struck, it was enough to rock me forward, my strengthened thighs gripped tightly to keep me from rolling head over heels off the back. "Odin preserve- Toothless, what are you doing?"

The dragon was already turning easily back to the sky, chomping off huge mouthfuls of the large cod, bits of fish chunks falling back into the ocean. I glared at him, as he gave a cheeky, cheerful roar, the last of his fish disappearing with a snap of his jaws.

I slapped the warm shoulder, though doubtful the dragon would feel any discomfort over it, and harrumphed at him, "You could at least warn me."

This continued on for a while, I nervously guided the playful beast out further and further away from the island, and in turn away from any wayward eyes. A dragon with such black and shiny scales would most definitely catch the attention of well-trained dragon hunter eyes.

I nudged in as hard as I could with my left knee, though even my strongest nudge probably didn't bother the dragon, who needed armor when you had scales like his?

` "Toothless, we have to get back."

To me, it seemed like he was about to protest, but after a second, Toothless angled himself to fly to the highest part of the island where he'd been hanging out yesterday.

I shuddered at the memory. It wasn't that any of my friends had been violent or upset; well, more violent than they ever had been. They took it rather well, which was what scared me the most. Never-the-less, the most normal event was Astrid jamming her elbow into my ribcage, "That's for not telling us sooner." Then she was wrapping me up into a one-armed hug, "Why do you always try to do it by yourself first?"

I had no answer for her, whether I had the wind enough to respond or not, but I was relieved by the normal response from her. Snotlout had pouted, not that you heard that from me, but eventually seemed to perk back up again later. Fishleg's response had been, of course, delighted with seeing his missing "specimen" and was happy enough to have Gallin occupy Toothless's head –feeding him—while he scribbled down new measurements.

Once, I asked him why he was so enthusiastic about his note-taking, and the boy had turned to me with such ecstatic features, that whatever answer he gave me would have been enough to sate my curious mind. His answer had been simple; he had the dream of writing a second copy of the Dragon's Manual. The brunet wanted to make sure that every dragon known to Vikings was catalogued and it was done properly.

A worthy cause, and I wished him luck in the venture, certainly more luck than Toothless, who didn't seem to know exactly why the research had to start with the section on Night Furies.

Now the twins, they were their usual charming, er, _normal_ selves. One minute their focus was on Toothless, who was admittedly hard to ignore, the next they were attacking one another and nearly rolling down the steady slope back to the very distant Gather Field.

Beneath me, Toothless gave an abrupt shudder, and I felt my guts clench up as I knew what he was going to do next. Again we fell like two stones dropped from a cliff. I didn't scream this time, and was proud of my stoic silence; I didn't necessarily count the gasp of wonder as we sailed over the gorgeous water as a noise.

Together, we alighted on the soil of the island; the loamy earth here seemed to be random, as the rest of the island's ground was a sand and clay, little weeds growing up all through it. As I slid off the serpentine back, I swallowed my yelp of pain from my earlier heel injury. Toothless gave an worried warble and nudged my back. I smiled gently, "I already said I'm fine, I'll be back soon. Stay up in the tree cover; at least you'll be faster through the branches than down here on the ground."

Toothless fixed me with a bored stare and leapt up into the nearest tree, his claws scrabbling up into the higher branches. I gave the slightest of a nod, worry easing a little, and went off to see if Astrid was already waiting at the footraces.

----With the Twins----

Ruffnut was never a girl to be sore over the fact that she was _indeed_ a girl. Astrid at one time had lamented many a nights to her about the very fact, that there was a double standard that girls were held to. That no matter how much either of the blondes would try, even at their best, the men would only see them as the best of the other women and never a better to their male counterparts.

Now, the lanky blonde knew that she perhaps, should indeed, feel a little more bitter over the whole idea, but as ruff-and-tumble as she was, at her very core she felt rather apathetic about the whole business. It had always been about fun for her, fun at doing something, fun at beating up something, fun at beating her brother at _anything_.

Being a twin, and nearly identical one at that, was a very tall and tough order; you were a pair and there was never something quite right about seeing one without the other. Tuffnut was not considered to be fully a man by himself, and Ruffnut was never considered wholly a girl. The thoughts behind it were steeped into many centuries of superstition; but in the end it boiled down to one thing. The belief was that as they were both born at almost the same time, and they looked so much alike, that their father's essence had been particularly potent and cause the God Odin to split the one child into two.

So Ruffnut found herself wondering in her more private moments, was she truly just Ruffnut? Or was part of the once whole being that had split into two halves? Sometimes it bothered her, but it was moments like this one in particular where she found herself not caring one rip either way.

The twins would never reveal their darkest secret, as it would only cause more superstitious rumors about two halves really being one original being, but there were moments in life where one could, quite literally, _sense_ the other.

It was deeper than the normal senses, Ruffnut didn't just sense her brother when he was nearby, but he could be on the other side of the island, and it would take just a second of concentration for her to feel his spirit so close, that he might have been standing right at her side.

Tuffnut never really voiced much opinion on this "sense" they seemed to share, as he found it wholly helpful in their incessant pranks. Though, if he wasn't paying attention, he could almost "forget" the sense was there. Especially in moments of panic or fear, if he didn't focus enough, he would lose the feeling.

The two were currently creeping through the "jungle" as Tuffnut liked to envision it, though Ruffnut had repeatedly told her idiot brother that it was a forest; they pair had never _been_ to a real jungle.

Ruffnut paused at that thought though, now they had dragons, well they shared one. If she had her own, and Tuffnut had his own, they could fly to wherever they wanted! Imagine… her thoughts drifted away, and she sighed at the idea of traveling. Story Tellers that the more peaceful Vikings traded with had such fabulous tales to tell. Like land that was so hot it was cracked and scorched to pale sand from the heat of the sun. And jungles shaded like this forest, but were so humid that one could walk nearly naked and never feel cold.

Islands that had narrow trunked trees that stretched up into vibrant green "fronds", a word she had never heard before, and bore hard-shelled fruit that produced milk! There were places where there were other people who didn't fight or train to be Vikings! What a strange and mystical place, how boring and sad was it for them?

Tuffnut snorted, "Hey, I know you don't like exercise, you having a "dragon-esque" figure and all, but it's just a walk back to camp—ow!"

Ruffnut huffed as she pushed past him, while her brother rubbed his aching skull and glared at the tiny offending rock she just pelted him with. He was about to snap at her, when he paused, and his sister picked up on it; her hair rising to the back of her neck.

Tilting his head, Tuffnut narrowed his eyes, and Ruffnut followed his gaze closely, pin-pointing a group of teens their age sitting around a bunch of fallen, moss-covered tree trunks.

"_Vrangi,"_ Tuffnut snarled out.

Ruffnut knew of her brother's long-standing feud with the black-haired boy, Hel, who _didn't_ have a feud with him?

The boy had the face that could bring women to their knees and a tongue more silvered than chain mail (1). He was handsome, twisted, full of himself, and cockier than henhouse full of roosters.

Maybe it was the last gather, when Tuffnut had been attempting to "slay" a fierce and scary rabbit to impress Lof, a girl from Thoris. Vrangi had not only stepped in to slay the rabbit, but he tore it to pieces, and then proceeded boast that Tuffnut had been "scared sillier than a hen near a fox" to have ever killed the "beast".

Ruffnut had been more confused as to why on Odin's earth; her brother would be upset over _taunting_ when the pair received it every day. She, at the time, had not factored in the wounded, er, male pride over a boy that had been slighted in front of a crush.

So, yes, she remembered, but she still wasn't anywhere _near_ as upset as Tuffnut thought he was. "Tuff, come on, the races are starting soon, and you know our cousin-"

"Ruff, not now, listen!"

Ruffnut looked back at the circle of boys mooning over Vrangi's words, "- and then _I_ was picked as the top dragon trainee."

There were a few ooh's and ahh's from his admirers, and a particularly pale youth spoke up, "What type of dragon did you have to slay? A Nightmare? A Whispering Death?"

"I had to kill," he paused for dramatic effect and the boys around him leaned in, "A Zippleback." There were gasps and a few mutterings of how two heads made it the hardest to kill.

Tuffnut looked as though he had been punched and Ruffnut felt her own ire rise at both the gloating over the death of a dragon that was the same breed as her own.

"Oh Hel he did _not_ just say that." Tuffnut growled, and he began to stealthily move his way through the narrow space between trunks, like a cat stalking a rather loud bird.

Ruffnut palmed her face and sighed deeply into the smooth skin, of course he would take this as a personal insult, but hey… the squawking boy really did deserve to have his wings clipped a little. What her dearest brother seemed to be unaware of, or decided to conveniently forget, was that there were five boys, and only two of them.

Well, scratch that, she thought as she watched her brother's blurred form settle behind the two largest boys, intent to take them from behind, maybe that skull protected a brain after all. She felt the twinge in the back of her mind, the thought that her brother was preparing to leap, her duty was of course to cover the other two, and leave Vrangi to her enraged brother.

With a pounce, Tuffnut sailed into the backs of the two boys he was targeting. A knee jammed painfully into one's kindney, dropping him, and the other he hit with his full body's weight. The three went down in a mess of limbs and cusses, swearing like the born and bred Vikings they were. Ruffnut was only a second behind her brother, and a second only because she wanted to make full use of their confusion.

The fight was brief, and Ruffnut was still wrestling with the second lad, who found out the hard way that she was a girl which pretty much sealed his fate of being beaten to death by a screeching Valkyry(2).

Ruffnut was much too enthralled by the many octaves a boy's voice could rise as when he scream in terror and pain to notice her brother's own predicament.

"We settle this now, Vrangi."

"Exactly what are we settling?" If the question had been said by anyone else, Ruffnut would hazard to say they sounded genuinely confused, but from the way the boy sneered and cocked his head, she knew that he most likely had a very good idea what was being spoken of.

Tuffnut howled in anger and threw himself forward, a tactic he used when he _really_ had no other plan, and Vrangi was prepared for it.

While evenly matched in size and equally lanky, the wrestling match would be one by the boy that wanted it enough… or fought the most dirty.

Tuffnut held no qualms about kicking the other teen in his unguarded shin. Vrangi's face contorted into the most ugly look Ruffnut had ever seen to date and the black-haired boy gripped her brother's tunic, slipped a leg behind Tuffnut's knee and threw him violently to the side.

The lanky blond was already getting back to his feet when Vrangi sprang forward and grabbed Tuffnut by his long hair, twisting it painfully back causing the teen to let out a terrible shriek of pain. Reaching down at his side as he was dragged up, Tuffnut threw a fistful of dirt at the other teen's blue eyes, and it was enough for the strong hands to release the tangles of hair.

Outraged and eyes that refused to open at all with the stabbing pain of gritty sand, Vrangi lashed out with a blood-thirsty roar, this time _he_ was the one that tackled the other teen. Ruffnut had drawn herself up to watch, sitting comfortably on one of the fallen boys' backs, perched and watching eagerly.

The rest of the fight was more or less a pushing match; the two were locked arm against arm, each shoving with equal anger and general rage.

Now, Ruffnut would have bet her best battle axe that this fight would have continued on until the sun had set and the teen's had collapsed from sheer stubborn will-power, but it was not to be. Snotlout unwittingly stumbled in upon the strange group, the sounds of fighting and pain attracting him, and for once the brunet came because he was generally worried that it was one of his group.

Their, Snotlout and the others, popularity had taken a very sudden nose-dive after the other children saw the once popular group hanging out with Hiccup, Gromr, and Gallin. It was a worthy trade in the opinion of Snotlout, Dear Hel in her shady underworld, he was _riding_ a _Nightmare!_ Plus, on top of saving the _entire_ village of Berk, his cousin Hiccup was actually pretty cool, in his completely weird- manner.

Vrangi was not stupid, even though he was your typical average boy. He knew that with Snotlout showing up, the balance that might have tipped in his favor was now weighted heavily against him, and he broke off from his wrestling with Tuffnut, sneering as he fled.

Tuffnut did not seem to be upset over this battle, and the blonde knew that it was because he was swaying from weariness, not excess adrenaline.

Snotlout said nothing on the manner, manly pride to another man's manly pride. "Come on you two, the races have began." Though he did seem to have some regret, Ruffnut was willing to bet that he hadn't been there in time to help with a little rumble.

'Don't worry, Snotlout.' She thought, 'there _will_ be a next time.' She stopped and looked at her brother's drawn face, her hair once again rising on her neck, '_I can sense it.'_

--------End Chapter-------

Next chapter will cover the _entire_ rest of the day, so it will be nice and long!

1) Silvered than Chain Mail-The Vikings _did_ have chain mail, though it took a great amount of time, and _money_ to make. It was often preferred not to be used as it was often heavy, though it has been depicted in pictures being used. Silver indeed.

2) Valkyry, I understand some of you might not spell it this way, but the source that I got it from spelled the plural form as Valkyries, which may or may not be the more popular spelling for the word.

3) There was only one god mentioned in this chapter you might not know, and that is Baldr, the god of beauty, innocence, peace, and all things good.

Thank you and have a great day! Review if you like; all questions will be answered as best as I can. If you spot a mistake my betas or I do not catch, please either PM it to me, or leave it in the review.


	8. Day Three pt two

I'm not dead! Really! See, here I am! Ready to provide you all with a new chapter! If it seems I'm random in my POV switches, I'm not. See I use third person when there are more than one person I'm trying to get a feel for. When it is focused on the activities of one person, I use first POV.

**THANKS to: Bassclone 13! This story has only been beta'd once, so if you find any mistakes, please be polite about it, and just let me know!**

**A/Note: **I may love horses, but I know very little about them outside how to physically saddle them up, because of this, I must once again turn to the internet. Everything you read in this chapter came from researching the subject of how ancient people cared for their horses. I would normally say Norse/ Vikings, but sometimes that information is not always found. I'll do my best to keep it as accurate as possible, but if it comes right down to it, I may improvise a smidge with current methods of which I am more familiar with.

Terms that will be used (if they are wrong, please tell me, as I've never really spent much time around tack):

Surcingle: It is hard to find what this might have been referred to as, but for clarity in this story, it refers to a large leather/nylon/elastic band that fastens around the girth of the horse. It is about two inches wide and its main function is to introduce young horses to the presence of a saddle and as training for ground work. However, back in the early centuries of A.D., it is mentioned that it was the early form of a padded saddle without the "tree" or sturdy base. This would have been used for light Calvary work, as it allowed greater mobility with less weight.

Stirrup: Stirrups have been depicted as early as 500 B.C. as large rings that allowed the big toe or a leather boot to step up into.

Bit and Bridle: Very simple, the designs haven't changed _drastically_ over the years. The main function is still to control the horses head and to help give aid in direction.

Tölt: a pace that Icelandic Horses have in particular that most other breeds do not. It's a very fast pace that is reminiscent to flying, useful for very long distances.

Well, at first I didn't know all the dragons speed and such, but How To Train Your Dragon Wiki now has stats up! So all of those that love Fishlegs, enjoy the website!

An Important Note: Now, please don't be confused about the horses that are being used by the Vikings. There is a specific breed, the Icelandic Horse that has been contained in Iceland for centuries. From what I've read, the Vikings used this type of breed. The reason for this is because of the plague and it was illegal to bring any outside horses in. As a result, the horses have hardly changed at all over the years. Icelandic horses are usually short, very stocky, and are more for endurance than speed. The horses here would be horses from the tribe leaders own stable, as horses would not have been carried easily over the sea at this time. So each tribe, minus the one that isn't there, that would be eleven horses, would receive one chosen at random for the competition. There will be two parts, the sprint and the endurance ride, where the horse's race laps around the island. It might not be considered fair, as the horses are all from the same stable, but each has their own quirks, and even the leader doesn't get to pick which one he gets.

To little_girl, thank you so much for the corrections! I really appreciate the help. Yes, tar is flammable, but I really couldn't find what Vikings would use as sealant. Also, yes, I realize that Vikings mostly got around by longboats, and that the ship I described wouldn't have been used by the Vikings, but hehe, it is fanfiction, and it was necessary for the ship to have a hold, or where else would Toothless hide? Again, thank you!

Chapter 8-

When I arrived at the Gather Field, the "masses", as I have affectionately named them such, were already gathered.

I was always in awe over exactly how fast the field could change in just a matter of hours. Yesterday, I had been all set up with pedestals and leather covered hay mounds to shoot spears at, and today the ground had been stamped down to sandy dirt, strewn all over was brightly colored died yarn ropes.

Yarn because it was the easiest to dye, the cheapest to make, and it was _just_ strong enough to bear up to the wind. It was just a reminder of "outside the boundaries" and you could be sure, any Viking that fell behind the rest would argue within an inch of his life for a redo if he believed someone stepped out of bounds.

I didn't see Astrid among the gathered, but there were so many people with similar color hair, though not the same shiny quality hers seemed to have…

Then my eyes were caught by the magnificent sight of the race horses, all lined up and being curried to their evident pleasure. Their heads barely topping past his shoulder, and their deep barrel bodies were filled with strength that they were so very valued for.

I eagerly went over to the first in the line, a deep steel grey stallion that was tossing his head as his great dish nostrils flared, as though he could smell the excitement. There was no doubt in my mind as I stared into the stallion's intelligent eyes, nowhere near as intelligent as Toothless mind you, that it didn't understand what was going on and was excited on its own.

It nickered to me as I caressed the silky hair, my fingers running through its shockingly white mane, a typical coloring for our horses. Ah, being around horses again was great, of course it would never compare to _really_ flying, but it was hard to forget how in love I was once with riding free over the plains. I felt my fingers cinch slowly in the mane, before relaxing… would I ever be to ride a horse again? Some would be confused over why I would possibly ever want to ride a horse, when I had a much more intelligent being that wouldn't buck me off, without a good reason, and possessed such a personality. Yet, standing close to the warm side, warm air expelled from the sturdy creature, I felt a nostalgic pang in that soft part just for horses alone.

I patted the strong side with a smile and moved away from the steel stallion. I strolled happily down the line of safely tied horses and found my breath once again taken away by the sight of a stunning mare.

She was sleek, but still carried the stoutness that any Viking looked for in good stock. She was a lovely dark acorn brown, her mane and tail a beautiful ashen color. She had clean lines, stood as tall as my head at the withers; her legs were long and straight. Her barrel body was belied the fact, that depsite her extra hand in height, she was no less able to pull her weight.

All in all, she was a beautiful and proud specimen; surely the breeding to create her must have been painstaking, for she was no random bred horse, not a mare born of serendipity or sheer dumb luck.

I put out one hand, stroking the smooth softness of her muzzle, "Well, are you the most beautiful girl in the races today?"

I smiled as she gave a soft whinny and moved forward to nuzzle my palm.

"That there is my pride and joy."

I stilled my hand and looked over my shoulder, before I breathed a sigh. "Hello again Hanhista, is this wonderful horse of your doing?"

Hanhista gave a crooked, but genuinely good natured smile, "Well, I figure Odin, and her sire and dam played a larger part than I did, but you could say I was the brains behind her line."

I snickered softly, Toothless would be so jealous to see me nearly drooling over a horse, but it was hard to see such work and not sigh over it. I stroked down her long muzzled again, starting from her forehead until I reached the peach fuzzy nose.

"What's her name?" Names are very important for all things. There will two names, the one for all to know, then your very private name, one that you kept to yourself and your family, who knew what could happen if a person with strong magic got a hold of your private name? And think of all the spirits, and trolls, and goblins that would be able to find you in the night if you went about by your real name?

As you got older though, like my father, you were able to reveal your personal name. After you reached manhood, as a Viking you were already perhaps the scariest thing next to native dragons, what goblin would bother you?

"Dyrr."

I felt my lips quirk into a smile, precious one, a very fitting name for such a great horse. I cheerfully withdrew my hand and looked up at the man, "Will you be in the races?"

Hanhista gave a nod, and then clicked his tongue. Dyrr whickered in response, shiny hooves that looked freshly polished lifted up, showing off the wonderful conformity of the sturdy legs. She stopped near the man, who merely slipped a corded rope around her neck, which he didn't even bother to keep in his hand. When he walked off, she followed him like a dog, as he brought her over to a low pine table where simple brushes were laid out.

I knew for sure what Hanhista must do around my uncle's tribe now; he was certainly the head for the stables. All the horses in the line I walked down had terrific lines, clean and healthy coats, and bright shining eyes. Pampered, but they certainly deserved it, or at the very least had the potential to do amazing work. There was no doubt in my mind that these horses could carry Vikings of upwards of three hundred pounds and drag even more with the right equipment.

Head of the stables was difficult work, in some ways even more the smithing or the original tanning job I had pinned him for. After all, it meant keeping very detailed notes on animal husbandry, making sure each line was bred to its highest potential.

Behind me the booming voice of my uncle was ringing out, announcing that it was time for the foot racers to sort of meander their ways to the center of the field where "rules" would be discussed. The word is a tentative one considering that rules were not the highest priority, but a great base for declaring that _you_ could have won if someone else hadn't cheated.

There would be two heats, the first would be like the horses, a typical foot race from one end of the field, to the rather far opposite end. While we had a measuring system, this was an non-formal, semi-official gathering. Apparently my uncle eyed up the largest clearing on his island, and mentally marked it off. Their conversation would have been less verbal, more like the huge man swished an arm out over the land, and the other leaders grunted approval that the space was large enough for the runners to hit their stride and achieve a decent pace.

Our runner was not as hulking as a few of the Vikings milling around, but he still looked like he could personally rip out a tree and carry it off. The man was busy stretching out and doing little practice runs, trying to decide which position he wanted to start from.

I looked over the line of eleven, some were stretching some were not, but all had glittering eyes of excitement, twitching with adrenaline and anxiety. I could almost taste the exuberant joy that each man and woman here was exuding. This was a vacation, and they were going to make sure it was done right… well mostly right.

In the crowd, I spotted my father. He was surrounded by his friends from our tribe, and seemed that he had picked up a few more friends from the other tribes. It wasn't a strange thought, my father was not only a powerful leader, but he was rather charismatic. He could easily rouse his warriors to arms just as easily as he could gather them for a fishing expedition. My father was a man, that once he put his mind to it -as stubborn as he was- there was nothing that would deter him; as I've found out first-hand.

"Hiccup?"

I turned my head, and could have sworn my face split as I grinned at Astrid. I knew I was an awkward lad, but usually I didn't _feel_ so awkward. And certainly I never felt so very awkward as I did when Astrid was fixing me with those wild-flower blue eyes.

"Astrid, I didn't know you were here yet."

Her lips twitched and she strode forward to stand by my side. My face heated till it felt like I had stood to close to the hearth. Though she was a half a foot from my side, her very energy felt as though it had passed through her skin and was pressing against me. Sure, it was probably my half-witted mind as it nearly drooled over every step she took. This blond standing at my side was a powerful warrior, despite her age. Able to dance and fight rings around most of us in the village with the ease Toothless exhibited when he leapt from tree branch to tree branch.

It was no surprise that I would be so struck by her. Astrid was everything I never could be, and I didn't hold it against her, she just seemed like whatever she touched she was great at. It took me two weeks to get Toothless to accept me to ride him, it took her a few days to tame her Nadder down. I still can't fling my battle axe, and she was able to toss it down the field.

Intensity, beauty, agility, strength, there was very little that wasn't attractive about the young woman. Yeah, I could be a little put off about the way she used to treat me, but honestly, though she ignored me or at best accepted my presence like an annoying bug, it was still better than others.

While I was busy creeping out Astrid with my stare, the participants for the race were lining up eagerly, prancing more than the horses that stood off to the side of the field. The sudden burst of chattering drew my attention to the starting line as my uncle stood in his honorary place as host of the gathering.

He was handing out brightly colored braided yarn, to each of the racers, a way to identify which tribe was in what place. I hadn't been paying to much attention to the totals, considering it was only the third day -Odin preserve us- and things could change drastically with three more to go.

Needless to say, the crowd of over-excited looking-for-anything-to-cheer-and-enjoy Vikings were eager to get the ships in the water, and get on with the competition. For all of the waiting, we were finally getting somewhere when the rest of the leaders began to move down to the finish line.

To help, shall we say, keep an eye on the contestants and to make sure no one cheated…too badly.

While I was waiting, my eyes kept flicking up to the ridge, strangely attracted every so often by a very shiny gleam. Now, besides the fact that there should be _nothing_ gleaming in any forest, anywhere, this usually denoted the presence of a dragon.

And of course Toothless would want to tempt his fate. By squirming his way about the upper branches, thinking he was the smoothest thing since silk -lovely stuff- by being right under a gathering of Viking's noses.

I brought my palm to my face and scrubbed idly at it, Astrid smirking at my reaction while she too noticed an all to abnormal glimmer at the top of the ridge. I suppose if you weren't _looking_ for it, it might not be as glaringly obvious, but my heart clenched every time the light bounced off one scale, so many dragon blood-thirsty Vikings here. Toothless would be ran through with so many spears without even the ability to fly off of the island.

Despite Astrid's smirking, she touched a gentle -strange because she usually was anything but- hand to my bicep. Her light voice dropped into the barest whisper, "it'll be okay Hiccup, Toothless is smart. He won't get caught on purpose."

On purpose? No, he probably wouldn't. However, roiling up an entire gather of Vikings, proceed to lead them on a wild goose chase about the island, dunk a few into the ocean, and generally create chaos and disorder just for kicks? I wouldn't put it past the smug, however noble and sweet at times, to decide that he was bored and stir up trouble just because of it… though it would be funny to us Berkians, after all, we would know the instant Toothless showed up who he was.

I never got tired of seeing Astrid smiling, but damn when she smiles at me, it didn't matter what kind of smile it was, she was directing _it_ at _me._

Even though I was mostly struck by her pretty grin, my eyes flitted to land on a branch and felt my jaw drop. Come flies! My mouth is permanently stuck like this, for my brain just gave a small cough and died.

Sitting on a branch, acting every bit the entitled Lord of all Dragons he thought he was, was Toothless. Sunning like a cat in the middle of a particularly delicious sunbeam; he was watching me and I was definitely watching him with the most horrified expression.

'What on Odin's sweet green Earth is that overgrown, smoke-blowing, daft-headed salamander doing?'

I couldn't even bring me my poor astounded brain to form a sentence, God, I couldn't even tempt it into twitching. Astrid's straw blond eyebrows drew together in confusion before she hazarded a look in the direction of my numb gaze.

She managed to stifle a gasp by pretending she was coughing, an elbow found my ribs and I hissed in pain, thank fully, it seems pain is like throwing ice water on my overheated brain. I was sweating in worry, my eyes darting back and forth among all of the gathered to see if anyone else had their eyes glued to my dragon.

That's right, my dragon. Not a pet, a friend, one that I was about to strangle myself. As though he could feel my very, erm, _unhappy_ thoughts, Toothless must've decided that he had riled me up enough. Standing up on the very broad tree branch, it still wasn't broad enough for him to rest comfortably anyway, and the accomplished black dragon leapt back into the rest of the forest.

Sudden cheering, my head snapped up abruptly as I realized that the race was finally underway. I couldn't really keep track of the other tribes, but was cheering right along with the rest of the group, screaming my lungs out in an attempt to boost our tribe's runner.

Only managing to catch a glimpse of the bluish yarn braid, which was the only way I could identify the man from here, I found him to be up in front with the first place runner, pushing for second. The energy of the crowd was getting to me, and before I knew it, I was leaning forward with the same bated breath, alternating between screaming encouragement and then falling silent.

And despite the tension of everyone watching, a sprint was only a sprint. The madness erupted when the racers charged over the finish line. Spectators squinted their eyes against the harsh morning light, too far away to really see _who_ was the winner.

Well, it wasn't our tribe, not that the runner didn't do his best. When the exhausted competitors made their way back, staggering against one another, Lof was sweating and panting worse than any of the horses.

Still, close third wasn't bad at all, honestly better than thought. Our team was currently floating in third to second, I bet my father would definitely take first in the wrestling… unless Balli had figured out how to pull and not push.

The next would be the endurance race, and I was not going to watch that; half of the time they would be out of my sight anyway.

I gave Astrid a smile and headed off back towards the woods, I was going to go give Toothless a tongue lashing that would burn his ears- well… he didn't have any, but yeah-

I blinked as the twins and Snotlout went running by, one of them knocking me slightly off-balance. I wobbled, but regained my grounding, Tuffnut looked over his shoulder, "Sorry dragon boy, we're in a bit of a hurry!"

I blinked blankly at the apology, raising an eyebrow. Then behind me I heard the mingled voices of very, _very_ upset teenagers. Whipping my head around, I found myself numbly staring as Gudreck _and_ Vrangi and their respective followers rushed by.

Vrangi snarled as he ran past, his eyes flicking to me like a cat that was chasing a bird had suddenly seen a nearby mouse, but whatever the twins had done tipped the scale and he was charging off again. Gudreck didn't even spare a haphazard glance, merely huffing and running faster on.

"Get back here!"

"We'll show you!"

"Your offspring will be born with bruises after I'm done with you!"

I continued to stand there dumbly… '_What?'_

Uh, so… the twins had somehow managed to get Snotlout involved, something that probably wasn't too hard… but was Gudreck and Vrangi finally burying the seaxe and joining forces? That wouldn't be good. Well, it was more likely, not that any of this seemed plausible, but the two of them apparently had _forgotten_ that they were supposed to be killing one another.

My body gave a small jolt, as I realized I'd been standing in the same spot for the last few minutes, _'Uh, right, Toothless.'_

I was rather happy that the walk was quiet up to the ridge, it was easier to clear my mind to a squeaky clean emptiness. It's interesting to not think about nothing in particular, it opened the area that I was walking through to a new light, I had never noticed how pleasant the forest smelled.

Really, It was wonderful. As the trees thinned out, my eyes sighted a flash of glossy black. My joy bubbled up as the large dragon jumped to the ground crooning happily.

The next hour was spent languidly. I rested against the warm-from-the-sun side and told Toothless all about the horses I had seen. I even begin to ramble on about the race, which was nothing Toothless hadn't already seen, the cheeky little devil.

I even was lucid enough to stick my hands in his mouth to try and remove a few pesky fish bones that he hadn't gulped down whole with the rest of the fish. Not surprising considering some that he had fished out were bigger than the sleek black head.

Really it was an ideal mid-day, lying around, in good company with my very best friend. Someone who was equally comfortable just snoozing in the toasty warmth the sun beamed down, reflecting sunlight of his glassy scales with an intensity that had me worried that I would burn.

Still, ideas of painful sunburns aside, I was quite comfortable when the frenzied screams reached my ears. I could have ignored that, really, it was a gather. If there was _no_ screaming, and or some kind of ruckus, I would have been worried. It was the draconic roar that sent shivers down my spine, and caused Toothless's head to snap up, blazing green eyes wide, his pupil dilated to the barest of slits.

I scrambled awkwardly up and hobbled over to the edge of the ridge, hiding near a tree trunk and gazing down into the Gather Field. The races were either over or interrupted, I couldn't tell which, but what I _could_ tell, there was definitely a Devilish Dervish down there.

I was to far away to tell the gender, but I had no problem spotting the many chains that held it fast to the ground, nor did I miss the way it leaned to one side, wincing every time the chains were pulled too tightly against a wing.

The many Vikings were jeering and cheering as a few men stood in front of the captured dragon, standing with their legs apart and preening like a bunch of cats. I couldn't see the colored braids on any arms, but I knew instantly who was from Berk from the way several staggered back, looking either sick or angry.

It was easy for them to say that they were just angry in general if asked, angry that dragons had the "gall" to come to this island, or sick from that weird mid-day meal, honestly, there was a reason there were only two meals a day!

I cringed as I heard the dragon screech, a screech of pain and helplessness. My stomach clenched and my insides squirmed unpleasantly at the thought of what would befall the poor beast, what had it been thinking?

Groaning, Toothless shoved his head under my arm, sympathetic with the Dervish that had been captured by Vikings that had not seen their potential companionship. I suppose I didn't blame them, for many years I didn't want anything more then to kill one.

I hadn't been able to place any sort of face to a dragon. When they attacked, I was usually carted off to be hidden, and I knew very well the danger they posed, but it was different ever since I met Toothless and not just because he was my friend now.

It was more like, every time I saw a dragon now, I could see more than their furious grimaces and see the scared being underneath them. They knew when they were captured, there was very little hope they would escape back to the skies.

And then, I felt that crawling feeling. That feeling I got when I decided to free Toothless from the bola's ropes, the feeling I got when I first looked down and though, '_He doesn't really seem all the bad…'_

Every crazy thought I ever had, followed this feeling I had, almost like I was being possessed by a God. I wanted to save that dragon, since it had been led back alive, there was no doubt in my mind that it was going to be used in an impromptu event. Well, I think my fellow Vikings will be very surprised that when they woke up the morning of that event to find their prisoner "escaped".

~~~~~With Fishlegs~~~~~~~

I knew I was an awkward teen, certainly not as awkward as the someday leader of Berk, but I would admit I was hovering on the border between being equally as strange as my friend.

As a teenage Viking-in-Training, it was definitely in my interest to be interested in dragons, but once I had found out how truly wonderful they were, it was hard to think that my sole occupation would be to hunt them down.

It was easier to disguise the unsettled feeling by obsessing myself with the manual. Flipping through page after page, trying to memorize every little thing I could about all dragons. I would rather be able to kill one quickly, but knowing their weaknesses and the best critical hit areas, than to draw out their pain.

Then, Hiccup happened. That seemed to be the easiest thing to say whenever something completely strange happened.

A dragon could be tied up neatly, ready to be executed when out of no where a flying sword, launched from some new insane invention, sliced its way through the bindings. What happened? Hiccup happened.

It seemed that everything that went wrong with him usually involved dragons, most likely from him trying just so damn hard to fit in and not be ridiculed. Odin knows that many times I found myself almost ashamed at laughing at him, the leader's eccentric son. Even more so now, when he had no need to save us all from the dragons, and in such a unique way. Single handedly changing the entire mindset of all dragons by freeing them from their controlling Queen, showing and proving that humans weren't just enemies.

It just boggled my mind, he was like the worst gale storm and the best thing that ever happened to Berk, sweeping in and showing us all the, even myself who used to dream of what taming a dragon would be like, that dragons were something really special.

And who got the most special, wonderful beast of all of them? Through pure serendipity, Hiccup got himself nearly killed by a Night Fury, after nearly killing it; from their equal fear and curiosity of one another, they created a bond of Dragon and Man that would continue with each breath us Berkians drew.

I knew Hiccup was bashful about his sudden popularity even though it was something he obviously desired before. I just assumed it was the sudden swing from being almost hated, to being adored, jarring enough for anyone.

This mid-day, after having that delightful noon meal, was at the Gather Field, Gromr at my side. The boy was another strange boy, like myself, who was now reaping benefits of an act that was rather out of his control.

He was chatty once he realized that my group wasn't pumping him for arrows to shoot at him later, and he freely would tell me of all his dreams. The gangly boy wanted to be a great warrior and wanted to prove to his father that he was worth being the great leaders son.

The brunet's situation was strikingly similar to Hiccup's, perhaps why I got along so well with the boy considering Hiccup and I got along fine.

So when I heard the first screech of a dragon, I nearly fainted. I really hadn't had a chance to really ask Gromr how he felt about dragons, but his face looked rather pale as the poor tangle up creature was dragged out onto the field.

I would bet every manual I ever owned, that somewhere around here, Hiccup was watching with a mortified expression on his face. Most of the Berkians here were able to handle seeing the dragon in chains, despite our attachment to the fire-breathing creatures, but it seemed that Hiccup was the most attached to the species.

Not to say that I wasn't upset seeing such a lovely Devilish Dervish: speed eight, armor five, defense six. Armed with powerful jaws, defended with huge spike running along the spine, the dragon was a similar in build to a Monstrous Nightmare, only instead of red and black, Dervishes were a solid red with sky blue striations running rampant along its body.

The female, as her horns grew back pointing toward her tail, males seemed to have their horns growing forward and up, was actually a rather pretty specimen. Her spikes down her back were all correctly formed, and her scales gleamed with good health. Poor thing was loosing several of those lovely scales, some of them having fallen off as she had been dragged from wherever she'd been captured.

Red and blue wings were wrapped up tight, leaving her with no front legs to walk on, the only solution I suppose _would_ be to drag her to the field, still…

She gave a screech of shrill pain, I winced along with several other Berkians, I could see one of the bound wings was dislocated. There was a possibility the young female, she didn't have a full set of horns yet, wouldn't ever fly again if the wing wasn't looked into.

Such a great Dervish though, it's a true pity she'd been captured. Her tail length was truly abnormal, as it stretched much longer than other Dervishes. Did this mean she was a mixture? Could dragons interbreed freely, a Dervish and a Nightmare?

I had missed whatever had been said about the dragon, but I figured from the chuckles and hoorahs, she was going to be an attraction soon, one for all the other tribes to enjoy. I looked around, looking for one specific person, my eyes finally making out the vast form that was our leader Stoick, and it wasn't a surprise to see a slight scowl.

For usually an impassive man, he was great at controlling his emotions when he wanted to, Stoick seemed rather upset, more likely he was thinking about how the rest of his villagers would feel about the whole thing.

It might have been a tad bit of a stretch to say that I thought they would be enormously upset, and maybe I was too hopeful in the idea that the Berkians had become such champions of their dragon companions that they would take up arms -or at least shout since they were so good at it- and at least fight to try and release the dragoness.

Rather unlikely in that happening, and I though I was sad to think it, I knew it was true. The tribe of Berk would not risk falling into ill favor with the with the rest of the tribes over one female Devilish Dervish.

I rubbed my head, ruffling the stringy blond strands. Those great orange eyes turned toward me, or rather in my direction, but my heart was so guilty that my mind would not shift from the fact she was looking at me, begging me and asking _me_, to help in some way.

Hiccup would have a plan no doubt. I turned around and made shoved my way back through the packed area.

~~~~~~With Hiccup~~~~~

Somewhere between me determinedly walking down from the ridge, and the respective members of my group walking up, we found all of us, more or less, meeting up at the same place.

It was funny, I had been thinking that I would be on my own for this, but at this point I think I'd let Astrid hit me for thinking such a silly thing. I was so used to thinking I'd be on my own, and was once again struck by how lucky I was.

Astrid was giving me a delighted grin, "So, Hiccup, what are you going to do about the dragon? I hear they're going to sacrifice it in a ritual to Odin at the end of the week."

I flashed my own grin back at her, "Something crazy, Astrid, something even more crazy than before."

Tuffnut snorted, "There is _nothing_ more crazy than what you did before."

His twin elbowed him in the stomach, "But you're welcome to try," she purred, "I already told you, _I _like crazy."

When I turned to look to see if I had Snotlout's support. He shrugged his shoulders and nodded, "Well, if anyone can manage to do something more crazy than that last stunt, you can."

I was about to comment when Fishleg's grabbed my arm, "Well, what are we waiting for? We have a dragon to save!"

And with that, the large boy pulled me after him, "We'll need to start with a plan, let's head back to the ships, we can talk there."

Stumbling, I got my legs in order and started after the eager boy, but not before a flash of nearly silver hair caught my attention. "Wha- Guys! It's SwanWhite!"

Before Astrid could even twitch in the fleeing girls direction, from above us in the trees blackness descended. More accurately, a dragon shaped blackness dropped down from above and surrounded the small girl.

Who promptly began screaming, causing panic among the others as they rushed over in an attempt to both shut up the girl, and get Toothless to return to the tree limbs.

I sighed,"If anyone wants me, I'll be over here… beating my head against this tree."

It was Snotlout that managed to pull the _still_ screaming child from Toothless's tail and wrap a hand over her mouth, "STOP screaming!" He hissed at her in irritation.

I glared over at Toothless, "You!"

Toothless turned to me, feigning innocence, like I was supposed to believe he _slipped_ from the branch.

"Uh huh, you're in trouble. Before she would only have known about us wanting to rescue the dragon, _now_ she knows about _you._ Which means we have to keep her here, and do this all tonight."

Toothless had the decency to pretend he was shamefaced, but the dragon smirk was back on his face and it wasn't leaving anytime soon.

"Damn Dragon."

I dodged the sleek tail and sighed, "Fine, bring her, we have to hurry to the ships. Though if we let her go, the adults might think she was just lying."

Astrid shook her head, "No, then we'll have your cousin following us. Besides, the vikings here are very anxious, any chance that there is a dragon around here would be sufficient since they've already found a Dervish."

Turning to look back at SwanWhite, I shrugged, "Guess you're in for the long haul, huh?"

She tossed a withering glare at me, to which I smiled back, "Now see, that might've been scary," I began as I approached where Snotlout was holding her, "But after I've had him," I nodded my head at Toothless, "Roaring in my ears… well, you just aren't so scary."

I gave her a cheerful grin, "It'd be quicker if you carried our sweet little cousin, Snotlout. I think I know exactly who sent her too."

Another long day this was turning out to be.

~~~~General POV~~~~~

"NO, no I don't _understand_. You will not be putting that beast near any of _my_ horses." Hanhista's face was nearly purple from sheer rage.

The helpless villager facing his wrath was here to tell the blond man that the dragon was to be brought through to the arena, an area currently holding the horses that were to going through a series of warm ups due to the race being only an hour away.

Now, usually there wouldn't be much problem, the horses would be moved safely away. After all, there were dragon holding pits in the arena, every tribe had an such a place to train young Vikings. But with such short notice, as the dragon was now within the furious man's hearing range, Hanhista was hard pressed to get the horses away.

There was no way in Hel's misty underworld that he would allow a Dervish to frighten his horses into a frenzy. A frenzy was not good, just like the resulting stampede would not be good, it meant many people could be trampled, and many horses with broken legs from running in a blind panic.

So, understandably, Hanhista _was _ready to kill the messenger, "And what were you doing on your way over here to tell me this? Having some bread and jam? Stopped for a little tea from the food tables?"

Disgustedly, the tall man strode gloomily over to the waiting men, all who were anxious from the mood of their Overseer. Shield may be leader over the tribe, but Hanhista was a leader when it came to the say in the horses.

"Alright, get them haltered and let's try to move them farthest away from the entrance! Quickly! Any man not stepping fast enough will find their ass meeting the sharp point of my blade!"

The Horse Master, himself, grabbed Dyrr's surcingle, and hauled his body up into the saddle. His weight even and his body swayed slightly as he nudged the mare with his knee, "Let's get moving Dyrr."

Hanhista kept her at a smooth trot, no need to waste her energy in such a small journey from one side of the arena to the other. As the pair neared the other horses, the blond leapt down easily from her back and held tightly to her reigns. "Alright, my pretty girl, come on now."

She followed easily enough, and waited patiently as he tied her to the metal crisscrossing bars that made up the arena's cage. All the dragon pens were full, the only one that would have been available to move the horses into, was not being filled by the new arrival.

After making personally sure each horses reins were tied securely, the angry man strode back over to the entrance, quite willing to take it up with Shield, that the man could have at least waited until the horses had been moved. The dragon was already tied up from what he'd heard, so why couldn't they have waited, say, oh five minutes?

The dragon was already being dragged through when Hanhista made his way over, and though a dragon was a far cry from a stallion, the angry beast was no more dangerous currently than an overprotective stallion during his harem's mating season.

As he passed by, Hanhista couldn't help but pause at the dragon as it was dragged by. An animal lover at heart -dogs, cats, horses- he was surprised to feel a twang of sympathy for the bound dragon. After all, this was not the first dragon he'd seen tied up, and Hanhista was sure it wouldn't be the last, but those glowing eyes were filled with panic, the kind horses got when they smelled smoke of a fire.

There was intelligence there too, eyes wide open and flashing in every direction, scared out of the wits it had.

"Shield? What is the meaning of this?"

Shield shrugged, too used to Hanhista's surly moods to be much offended. He'd known the man since the Hanhista was just a child.

"It should be obvious Han, we're bringing in a dragon."

"You knew the horses were in here, why would you risk years of breeding, just to bring in some random dragon that should have been killed in the first place?"

Shield again shrugged, "The lad's that brought it in had the notion of sacrificing it, since they had already went through the trouble of bringing it all the way to the field, I figured it wouldn't be too much trouble to keep it for a day or so. The Gods will be pleased as well to have a sacrifice, it'll bring good luck to the rest of the Gather."

Hanhista's mouth thinned into a hard line, still not appeased. As the dragon was beaten into submission as she regained her second wind and tried to break free -the frightened whinnies of the horses erupted- she was tossed, without being unbound into one of the gated cells.

The blond shook his head as the men that had dragged the dragon here left, Shield stopping momentarily on his way out, "I made sure to bar this place from any of the villagers, after the horses are taken out for the contest, I would suggest you find something for it to eat."

"Why me?" Hanhista wanted nothing to do with the dragon, not from the disgust for the creature, but from the whole matter entirely.

"Han, you have fought and been around dragons your entire life. They have killed your horses, the other livestock you keep track off, and many of our villagers, I know that it would be difficult to take care of such a beast, but you know the most about wild animals, so you'll be the one to make sure it stays alive for the next two days."

Hanhista snorted, not the first time Shield had completely missed the point.

"Yes, I look after it."

Shield nodded and strode out.

"Look after he says, what do I look like? A dragon nursemaid? Just kill the damned creature and be done with it."

The tall man grumbled as he walked back over to the his helpers, "Get these horses down to the field, leave Dyrr."

He ignored them as they set to work, and strode over to the cage, looking in between the planks. Well, there would be now way it'd be eating with its mouth all bound up like that, and the least he could do, would be to loosen the bindings a tad.

He grabbed a wooden club near the side of the cage, the dragon beaters to help knock the creature out if it ever got too violent, and started unlatching the man sized door that was built into the gate.

Hanhista grumbled as he entered, once again struck by how intelligent the orange eyes glued to his form were.

As he approached the upset dragon began to twist violently, emitting shrieks and muffled roars through the bindings.

Slamming his club against the metal bars behind him, he roared out, "Hey! That's enough out of you!"

The dragon was probably unused to being commanded in any way, and fell still from shock.

"Now, you seem like a… understanding dragon," the said dragon cocked it's head, "So, what I'm going to do is release the ropes from your mouth, but if you try anything at all, you'll be out so fast you won't even _see_ what I hit you with."

Now, why Hanhista felt the need to speak to the dragon, might be just a bad habit from talking to his horses. He always spoke to them as he put on their saddles or brushed them down, telling them exactly what he was doing every time. The burly man thought that it they seemed calmer if he did such, or maybe it was just his mind playing tricks on him when he looked into those great eyes and thought he saw the beast blink in understanding.

Never-the-less, the man was cautious as he strode around the sizeable bulk, a water casket off to the side for the horses had been left in the enclosure earlier was seized and dragged over.

The fiery eyes watched eagerly, limbs twitching from excitement to slake the dragon's thirst. As Hanhista made sure the basket was resting close enough for the dragon to get at it, he crept to the side of its face and shoved it, not unlike he did his horses, away as he quickly sawed through the ropes.

At the snap, she whipped her head around, to snap at him, but the jaws weren't even aimed for his body.

They closed a good foot to his right, a half-hearted attempt to show the human that, he was indeed, still in danger despite the dragon being tied up.

Well, not so scary when there seemed to be little fight in a worn-out dragon. Again, sympathy stirred in Han's heart for the dragon, it seemed so desolate, as though it knew of it's coming fate. It probably did, from what the man could see.

The red and blue dragon drank deeply from the water casket, stopping on clutch it between her teeth and tip it to get the last of the water out. Even when the container had been tossed aside, the dragoness still kept her head turned away, resting on the ground despondently.

Really, Hanhista didn't know what possessed him, but he reached up and touch the heaving side. The dragon flinched, but remained in the same position, obviously she had been expecting a blow. Looking over her ragged scaled body, sympathy turned into pity, and the man made the decision to loosen the rest of her bindings as well.

"Now, listen here, I'm not releasing you from your bonds you see? You'd be the one that did it, after I released your head, you knocked my into a wall, and then you chewed through the rest of the ropes, got that? It wasn't me," he slashed the last one, "that released you, it was yourself after you pushed me away."

The head turned slightly to look at him, bringing that same eye that Han had been admiring all day to look at him. It was morose, and sad, a sure sign that the beast had given up. She didn't so much as twitch as he began to back up, keeping an eye on her the whole while.

For a moment, he was about to slip away, but had a moment where his conscious attacked him unmercifully, for the look she had was the same as a wild horse who'd been freshly broken. Reaching out one hand, she flinched away again, Hanhista laid it down on the tip of her snout.

Both knew fully well that the dragon could take off the human's hand in one bite, but she allowed it to rest there, warm and soft against the warm hide.

"I'm truly sorry that they didn't kill you where they found you, it will be difficult for you to know that you'll be killed soon, but I'll do my best to make sure it's quick."

The dragoness blinked at him once, before closing her eyes and giving a sad sigh. She knew just as well as Hanhista did, that her time would be up soon.

The blond man moved away, out into the arena, and to his faithful horse. He felt a pang of sadness as he realized that he would much rather be riding the dragon.

'_Now who on Earth would have such a crazy idea?' _he thought with a rueful smile, '_absolutely crazy, it is.'_

"Come on Dyrr, let's go show those ponies what's what!"

DO NOT CALL A SCANDINAVIAN/ICELANDIC HORSE A PONY! I repeat DO NOT! Their owners take it quite personal like.

Hope you all enjoy! Thank you so much for being patient. And of course, if Icelandic horses weren't in use by the Vikings at this time, despite the article I found about them being so, just tell me in a PM or a review. I don't mind changing it! (though I'm pretty sure this is right… I hope)

There was a part where I mentioned polished hooves. Now, I don't think that Vikings would waste their times _polishing hooves, _but they might have taken the time to make sure they were healthy and medication was applied to keep the hooves healthy and hard. Hanhista though, strikes me as a person that would go the whole ten miles, hehe.


	9. The Approaching Storm

Welcome all! I'm am pretty positive the next chapter will be the last chapter. There maybe will be an epilogue, maybe. So, since I know a lot of you have been waiting for a while -my bad- for this, onto the usual warnings and such.

**Warnings**: In the beginning of this story, I warned for a lot of blood. Now, I'm realizing there will be very little. Originally, this was meant to be maybe three chapters with Toothless going batshit crazy on some guy that tried to hurt Hiccup…not an epic journey to a Gather…

**Rating: T**

**Disclaimer:** Still don't own it. It's on my Christmas list though, _right Santa?_

Special thanks: To all my wonderful reviewers, readers, those people that read and fave, those people that read and were like, "yeah that wasn't a waste of my time!" Thank you for taking the time! A thanks to spamandtoast for the wonderful help with horses!

**Really **special thanks: To my betas, it wasn't easy for you two, so thanks for all the work! Also, a very special thanks to MeloDenesa for her ideas and encouragement to finish! She was a big help for a scene in the chapter, I just hope I can work everything in so it's all shiny!

QUICK NOTE: No, Hiccup can not speak, nor understand Dragonese; but he has been around Toothless for a while now. I'm sure he can understand the messages that Toothless is trying to get across and vice versa. Also, I know that this chapter centers a lot around OC's, and some might be wondering where the Main Characters from the movie went. Next chapter will be very long, and it will feature a POV from each of the main cast, so that's why there is very little in this chapter on each main.

The Approaching Storm

If you were to ask Hanhista if he were a betting man, he would probably give you a very strange look, followed closely by a short, "no."

The blond was not a betting man even though many of his best friends were obsessed with the silly stupid games, and ended up practically giving away their loot and treasures quite often. Perhaps the best reason Hanhista was not into gambling and such, was that too many stupid people were involved in such ventures. For every intelligent person, you had a good twenty who didn't know when to stop, and that could get violent quickly if you weren't careful.

It wasn't so much the violence, because the Stable Overseer was quick and sure in a fist fight, but because fights led to grudges more often than not. Grudges that could be taken either against Hanhista face to face as was proper, or against his stables; which frankly, was unforgivable.

The man was trying, and failing, to ignore his uncharacteristic pity toward the poor silly beast that was currently locked up in the arena. He'd seen many downed dragons, most he had killed himself, and he was not new to the idea of a captured dragon in the least. So, honestly, Hanhista had no idea why he felt a desire to see the thing go free.

Maybe it was old age? It was an interesting thought, for the blond was starting to notice the beginning of silver shots in his normal gold mane. It wasn't a particularly comforting idea, it didn't sit well with the man to think that he was a little bit older then what he _used_ to think was old.

Speaking of not sitting right, the man shifted uncomfortably on the woolen pack that was strapped to Dyrr's broad back. All of this strange guilt had him rattled well and good, so much so, that he didn't have his mind right enough ride. Riding should be an unconscious bond, one that you share with your horse. A good partnership, in Hanhista's honest opinion, was where both parties had known the other for most of their lives and it led to an almost psychic link. Hanhista knew Dyrr's movements, her own unique gait that made her a trifle more hard to get used to. And in turn, Dyrr had learned through many repetitions how to respond to individual commands.

Sure, perhaps she knew a few words, such as "oats" and "apple". Also, she knew the corresponding words to start moving and to cease movement. The string of sounds in between these learned words were meaningless to her, but she was content enough to flick her ears toward her master in case he _did_ require her for something.

As the strong man idly scritched at the base of the sleek horse's mane, obtaining more of her favor as she tossed her head up, Hanhista liked to think that if horses could grasp more lucid emotions such as envy and jealousy, that Dyrr would be quite the one to envy.

In the privacy of his own mind, he liked to think that as Dyrr stepped onto the ripped up field, that the other horses were watching. And maybe, if the man wasn't sure it was a clear sign that he was a bit off his nut, he imagined that in their eyes was an envious gleam, a desire for a master such as he.

…Yes, so maybe he _was_ a little obsessed with his horses. And why not? They were sturdy, dependable, and above all they were fucking quiet. The man had nearly had it up to Valhalla with all the guys that would moan on about how great their hounds were, and that the only true companion for a Viking was a slobbering mutt… not that there were anything wrong with dogs… they just weren't a horse. Really no fault of their own, and they were certainly useful in their own rights. Besides Dyrr being part of a very short list, only a few past horses Hanhista could name had ever really come to his rescue in a fight or in battle. And Dyrr was the only occupant on a list of just herself that had ever stood up to a dragon coming after him.

Granted, it was a very small dragon and one that was out of fire shots, but for her to ignore her basic instincts of, "OH ODIN, it smells like DRAGON!" and still charge forward to get his stupid ass after being knocked off his saddle from a wayward tail, it meant a lot.

And he _was _knocked from his saddle damn it. Don't believe a single word the drunkards down at the Village Hall told you about him _falling_ off. When you got to be as experienced with horses as he was, you didn't just _fall_ off… you were knocked off.

Hanhista wasn't about to delude himself into thinking that Dyrr wasn't, at the very _least,_ preening as she pranced by the other horses that were being maneuvered into their starting positions, her tail especially high.

When they were near her starting position, the man slid from his mount and huffed slightly as his boots hit the sandy dirt. He slapped Dyrr's shoulder and laughed as she bobbed her head up and down wildly, her eyes wide in excitement, her dished nostrils flaring at the scent of other horses.

"Hanhista!"

The named man cringed slightly against his horse's side, and huffed as one of his more rambunctious friends, a man who never quite grew out of his energetic teen stage, came stomping up.

No, really, stomping up. Each heavy thump brought about another shudder. Why? Maybe it was a lingering self-preservative step from his own teen years when those thumps usually were followed by a fist. Apparently, if you save a life these days, it meant that you got a "get-away-from-being-beat-anytime" coin.

Dagyr was about as sunny as his namesake. Hanhista _supposed_ that sharing a name with the God of daytime meant that the man was a moving ball of energy when the sun was up, before crashing like a boulder into the ocean when Gmot pokes his silvery head out from the gloomy night sky.

Whatever the cause, the man never seemed to be able to combine two moods together. Either you got happy, or you got sad. There was never just an "okay" or "decent". That could just be a testament to Vikings as a whole, they did everything to its fullest extent. When they raided, they tore the place apart. When they battled, they coated the battlefield in blood, so on and so forth.

"Nervous about the races? I heard that if Dyrr wins, Shield would consider adding her to the main breeding stock."

Gritting his teeth, Hanhista turned to face the black-haired man. The face was covered in scar tissue that spanned the entire right side of the broad face. Much to Hanhista's private jealousy, the energetic man managed to pull of rakishly handsome. He spouted long and dramatic re-tellings of his "ill-fated battle with destiny" to any female in the vicinity that would listen; which many actually did.

Really, Hanhista had been there when the "battle" had occurred, and Dagyr had certainly fought well, but he made it sound as though the hulking man wrestled three Nightmares and still was able to tie a Zippleback up into a knot. The fire had been very real though, and Dagyr had re-paid his debt to Hanhista by yanking the blond out of the Nightmare's striking claw -there had been at least one of those-.

"I'm not nervous. Dyrr here is every bit as fast if not faster than every other horse in the stable."

"Ah, I bet you think you're going to win. Well, my friend, you're not the only one who knows his way around a horse."

Hanhista blinked for a few seconds at that statement. Was he supposed to be worried? He'd seen Dagyr's nag… okay so it wasn't a terrible horse, it just wasn't as great as Dyrr was. Then again, Hanhista squinted down the line at the stallion Dagyr was riding, it was a decent horse it its own right.

"You do remember Dagyr, that we are on the same team? Therefore, you know, competing together?"

Dagyr had the rare moment of looking sheepish, which was odd considering he'd lost about ten different facial expressions due to his severe scar tissue. He just smiled, all the while waving a hand in a shooing motion, "The excitement and all, don't think anything of it." He thought for a moment, "Actually, do think of it, Kava and I will be certain to beat you and your little mare."

Hanhista rolled his eyes. He was not a betting man. The blond knew what he was risking and would not have entered into the races with Dyrr, if he wasn't positive that she would blow the other competition into the ocean.

"See you at the finish line, Hanhista."

"We are ON the _SAME_ team you thick lard-headed piece of whale bait."

"What?"

"You are deaf!"

The other man went off laughing like the blond had cracked some hilarious joke -or rather _was_ the joke- as Hanhista irritably turned back to adjusting the straps on Dyrr's woolen pack-saddle. The race wouldn't be too long off now and he was itching in excitement.

When the next wave of said excitement past, Hanhista found himself observing his neighbor in line. The races were made up in heats, it was the only way to fit everyone into the event. Eleven tribes, ten heats, one man from each tribe in each heat. There would be two men keeping track of scores, the amount of laps that each horse had and the other man would be counting time.

Most horses would be used twice, since 110 men were involved in the races, that meant around fifty-five horses necessary. The tribes all tried to make it as fair as possible, choosing horses of similar height, age, and breeding; but Hanhista already had the feeling there would be some childish moaning at the end of it all, about how such-and-such's horse was too tired out.

Impossible considering these were the best horses in the world and each could run literally for _days_ and be only a little winded.

His neighbor, a Berkian judging from the colored band attached to his mount's bridle, was expertly -if somewhat slowly- saddling up the horse, as was expected from how important horses were in everyday life.

The only noticeable thing was how slow the man was going about it. Taking your time was a good thing, but Hanhista got the feeling the man was just double-checking each step to make sure he was doing it right.

After watching the man pause for the hundredth time after correctly completing another buckle, the blond watching raised a brow, "Ziu, right?"

The man startled for a moment, which was understandable considering how many people were here and Hanhista wasn't even _part_ of his tribe.

"Yeah, can I help you?"

Hanhista snorted, "No, I was just watching you saddle up your horse. You seem a little… out of practice?"

The Berkian nodded, "Yes," he laughed shortly, "I would suppose I am."

Another eyebrow raise, the Ziu didn't appear to want to volunteer any more information, and Hanhista wasn't interested enough to dig for answers.

With a sigh, the blond swept his eyes up to the sky and watched a hawk circle, no doubt a tasty mouse in its sights. Cocking his head a little, Hanhista remembered the feeling of galloping full tilt and decided that maybe that was what if felt like to fly.

His mind seemed to be fully stuck in whimsical mode as he connected flying to dragons. Hanhista's heart clenched a little at the remembrance of the dragon in the arena.

Without even being completely aware of it, Hanhista had already muttered out, "I wonder what it would be like to fly on a dragon."

It was a completely idiotic and childish thought, completely impossible and time consuming to think of such a useless thing, but before he could completely close his mind off to such a matter-

"Oh, it's the most fabulous thing."

Hanhista felt his eye twitch, and sucked in a little gasp. He turned to the rather flustered man to his left, who was fully involved in trying to attach one of the last few straps, but seemed to be having the damndest time reaching under the horse to the other side.

"What did you say?" Hanhista was sure his voice was breathless, but he would deny it under torture.

"Flying on a dragon? It's great once you know what you're doing."

The man hadn't stuck Hanhista of being daft, nor incompetent, so the idea of flying a dragon… a sneaking feeling began to creep up. Was the tribe hiding something? Wouldn't something so amazing have been, oh say, _shared _?

"- I remember this one time, I was teaching my Gronckle how to do a corkscrew, flipped me right of her back, she did." The man shook his head delightedly, even peaking up from behind his flopping hair to grin like a child eating a newly baked slice of pie.

"Landed right in my friend's pile of chickens he was plucking for his Nadder." The man gestured off-handedly- "Did you know they only eat chickens?"

Somehow, fighting past the complete blankness Hanhista's mind had become,… was this man yanking his leg? Maybe he was one of those… people that had been hit in the head too many times?

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait… what?" Hanhista shook his arms in a, "no more" gesture.

Ziu waved a hand at the stunned blond, thinking the man was shocked he'd fallen from the saddle so high up, "Nah it's fine, it'll take more than a fall to stop me! Only had a sprained ankle; it was the Terrors that bugged me. Stopping every so often for a week afterward, trying to take a nibble because they thought I was a chicken."

Hanhista could only stare in stunned dumb silence.

"-But considering how many there are in the village now, one would think we might get them under a little control-"

Was the village of Berk under siege of dragons? Forced to fish and make dinner for dragons? What was going on?

"NO!"

The man attending the gelding looked a little stunned at Hanhista's outburst.

A little more softly this time, "No, I mean the part about the dragons, what?"

Light seemed to dawn on the man, or someone at least had lit a match in the upstairs region of his skull, because he suddenly became very tight lipped. Apparently he had realized that he'd just done something that he shouldn't have done, "Um, yes, well… uh, yeah race is about to start."

He hopped up onto the horses and stead-fastedly ignored Hanhista's flabbergasted expression. In fact, the man seemed to be looking everywhere, _but _the stunned man.

Something was not right here, but Hanhista was sure to find out.

~~~~~With Hiccup~~~~~

I was rather upset that I wouldn't be able to see the horse races. As much as I loved my dragon, I still enjoyed watching the beautiful beasts as they trampled down foliage and pretty much anything that got in their way.

I couldn't say, however, that it wasn't for a good cause that I was missing my favorite event of the whole Gather. And really, this could be worse, it was still very entertaining to watch Swanwhite struggle beneath Toothless, who had made himself comfortable after sitting on her.

I crouched down in the gloomy darkness of the ship's hold, staring intently at the blonde girl. I just couldn't understand her motivation for following us. Yes, I'm sure her brother had put her up to it, dear darling cousin that he is, but I couldn't figure out why her brother was bothering to keep tips on me.

Gudrek was slimy at best and downright ship sludge at worst, but he didn't have time to waste making sure he knew where I was. If he was in one of those "gotta-beat-something-up-moods" finding me on the island was part of the game.

It sounded like something Vrangi would do, but Swanwhite hated the boy all the same as her brother, and I couldn't blame her. I suppose Vrangi could be forcing her, but at seven, I didn't see the child having a whole lot of terrible things stacked up to be used against her.

I would say maybe she did it all on her own, I glanced at her again, only to meet a poisonous glare. I huffed before standing up, wincing in slight pain from crouching for so long in one spot.

"Hiccup?"

I twitched violently, but at least I didn't jump. Hah! Take that nervous jack-rabbit syndrome!

"Yes?" I turned to see Fishlegs standing in the doorway.

"Astrid is already down near the arena, Snotlout is at the Gather Field keeping eyes on where the majority of people are, Tuffnut and Ruffnut are standing by here."

I nodded, my brain racing faster than a dragon could fly,

"Of course…"

I stiffened slightly at the tone of Fishleg's voice, "What?"

"You do realize that she won't be able to walk, or fly away?" The burly boy looked worried.

"She can limp away at least, only one of her wings is damaged. That's what you told me at least."

Fishlegs shrugged, "What if they hurt her more on the way to the arena?"

Now it was my turn to shrug, "We won't know until we cross that bridge, but we have to at least wait until dark."

I turned my gaze back down at the girl, she had been screaming earlier, but now she was silent after Toothless made himself to home on her back.

I heard the cargo hold door open again, and felt a presence sweep up to my side.

"They are going to be looking for her by nightfall, what will we do?"

I tilted my head slightly, considering the question, "I suppose we'll have to keep her here. I know the adults will start to get nervous around nightfall, it would be bad if they started to search all over, considering we'll be trying to keep under cover."

Ruffnut sighed, then glared down at the little girl that had made all the trouble. "I say we knock her out."

I laughed, that was the twins for you, "She is still my cousin, she'll be alright awake. Can't hurt anything where she is right now."

Ruffnut hummed at me before strutting off, "Okay Dragon Boy, we offered." With a wink she was off out the door.

Fishlegs stood quietly off to the side, obviously running through scenarios in his head, I was worried he was going to drive himself mad at all the possibilities of being caught.

"Alright Toothless, up off Swanwhite. Let's head to the deck, and be careful."

Toothless snorted at me, admonishing to me that he was _always_ careful. I rolled my eyes and gave a small shove to his shoulder, "Come on, off with you."

Toothless stood sulkily, he had been very comfortable on the warmth of Swanwhite's back, but I started to feel bad about the whole thing. She was a brat, yes, but she was my cousin and that meant family.

The girl stood up slowly, trying to be stoic, but wincing as she stood straight. I watched her as she watched me and the door. From the way her green eyes flashed back and forth, I could tell she was trying to figure out if she could outrun me.

I smiled at her, before turning away and petting Toothless lightly on his lowered head, "Don't be looking to me to catch you, it's Toothless you have to outrun."

That seemed to settle her, she fell into a pout; she didn't seem aware she was even making such a face. And it was, really at that moment, the first time I had seen her as a _child_. She seemed always so grown up, in the company of her brother. Always tormenting other children, speaking in such chilling tones, and with such decisive grammar.

I hummed to myself before I flashed a grin at Toothless, "What do you say old Beschützer, should we go flying?"

Ah, there was that slight unbending from her posture, a look of childish wonder flickering across her face. "I think the weather is very nice today, you could fly very fast today, with the wind to help you."

The girl had started to turn slightly, her attention on the two of us, even if she was still trying to remember that she was mad. "Hmm, I can't leave Swanwhite here by herself…"

I winked at Fishlegs, who smirked at me and scooted off through the door, "I'll just make sure the twins haven't found a way to sink the ships."

The three of us stood there, "What do you think Toothless? Do you think you're strong enough to carry Swanwhite too?"

The dragon gave me a dry look, he had not quite caught on to the plot bubbling away in my head, and I couldn't blame him. The sleek head leaned forward and gave me a gentle push, searching me over.

"I haven't fallen on my head," I declared shooing the smooth scaled beast away, "But it's been a while since we've flown with two people.

The dragon drew himself up to his full height and spread his huge wings, declaring silently that he was better than ever and would prove it. I laughed in delight at his vain preening, but I knew it wasn't just his own puffed up thinking of himself. The Night Fury had proven over and over again that he was as excellent as he though himself to be.

The was no struggle, not even an obligatory one, in Swanwhite's form as I pulled her carefully to the deck of the ship. Before any of us truly stepped outside, I glanced up to see Tuffnut giving me an "all clear" thumbs up.

I led the girl and the dragon over to where I had last put Toothless's gorgeous saddle. "Do you want to help me Swan?"

She wavered between turning away from me in another pout or reaching outwards to grasp the leather. It seemed helping won out, and she took careful steps toward me. "What do I do?"

"First I tell Toothless to stand in front of me," I gestured to the dragon, who gleefully came forward. Flying with his boy was a highlight of the dragon's day, and frankly, Toothless couldn't wait till they returned to Berk so they could spend the days together again.

"Then I put his saddle on like this," I demonstrated as I gently lowered it onto his back. My cousin was sharp enough to start grabbing at straps and mating them up in pairs, but she looked at me confusedly when she noticed the long strap the reached down to Toothless's fake tail-fin.

I kneeled down to start connecting it, "After I shot Toothless down," A grumble came from Toothless, which was the equivalent of a man saying, "I let you hit me."

I ignored him and grinned, "I found that when he hit the ground, he had damaged his tail-fin and without it he could not fly. So as I became his friend, I decided to fix what I had done and make him a new one."

Swanwhite's eyes glittered greedily, she wanted to know more. "You made friends?"

It was a loaded question, admitting that I went against Viking code and didn't kill the dragon in the first place, omitting that truth from Vikings that I knew where the infamous Night Fury was and didn't mention anything about it, that I used supplies from the village to make a saddle for the beautiful thing.

Nodding to the girl, I finished the last of the perpetration and cocked my head, "Well, ready to fly Swan?"

She did some more wavering, unsure and scared, but her gaze hardened and the girl gave me her hand. "What do I do?"

"Put your foot on his shoulder and climb up onto his neck."

Between the two of us, Toothless and I, we managed to get her up with only a few accidental -I hope- kicks. I mounted swiftly and easily behind Swanwhite, and she watched in interest as I clicked my fake foot into the clasps.

"Ready?"

Before I gave her a chance to answer, I looked back at the twins, identical grins met my gaze and they made shooing motions to me.

Patting Toothless's side, I grinned widely, "Let's go buddy!"

With a whooshing noise, two large black wings snapped out, startling the both of us. Toothless took two huge leaps, and then we were in the air.

Again, my stomach fell away with the ground, only for an indescribable emotion to take it's place. When I was in the air, everything went away, I could think of nothing else, but for the wind in my hair and the wing beats of my dragon beneath me.

I let out a triumphant yell, Toothless echoing back with his own roar, and both of us hardly recognized the scream from Swan as we left the ground behind. I felt her tiny hands clutch at my forearms, her head nearly arching up to ram into my chin. "Easy," I told her, "just enjoy the ride."

Toothless tilted his wings and I clicked obediently into position as he swooped down gracefully, his claws skimming the ocean water. Swan leaned over as far as she dared to see herself in the sparkling liquid.

And a second later we were arcing back up again, the world opened up in front of us, all that could be seen were puffy white clouds stretching across endless blue. Their was a beauty of rising up, water streaming off from wing tips and claws, as we shot up into the beams of sunlight, I heard my cousin yell again, this time with the same emotion that came from leaving the ground and entering something as free as the sky.

I could understand completely what she was feeling, and it wasn't even just remembering my first true flight with Toothless, every time we were in air I felt the same. Leaving from the shackles the ground provided, shaking them off and leaving the Earth for the open elements of the sky, air rushing in everyway around you, filling your very soul with the warmth of the sun, the silence that came over your soul. When everything in you, your mind, heart, and soul became one and you could experience emotions that were locked away tight.

I was sure that if every person that was against dragons could go on just one flight, they would change their minds the second they were hundreds of feet up; from sheer joy or sheer fright.

As we passed wispy clouds, Swan's death grip left my arm and she reached out with a child's fascination, what child didn't wonder what clouds truly felt like? She let out peals of laughter as her hand passed through and then we were making a slow circle back toward the ship.

The feeling of swooping down cause us both to laugh, and as a flight always did, I was left feeling like I was swimming in a sea of happy, fluffy joy. I was unprepared for my cousin's arms to wrap around me and scream, "Again, again, again, again! Please Cousin Hiccup?"

Who knew one flight around the island, and she would turn into a sweet little kid? Maybe I should do this to Gudreck, and maybe a flight for Vrangi could at least make him human?

I patted her head, "If we can get that dragon you saw today free, I'm sure Toothless would love to take you for as many flights as you want."

Toothless looked back at us, his yellow-green eyes glowing with cheer, maybe there was some magic in flying after all.

As we dismounted, Swanwhite was suddenly all energy, "What are we going to do? I could cause a diversion! I could fall off a cliff! I could-"

I kneeled down to one knee and smiled at her, "You can help us, if you want, but we have to wait till dark."

She clapped her hands in childish glee, "Will I get to meet the dragon?"

I nodded to her, all while pulling off the saddle and wrapping it up in oilskins. I would put it back on later, but for right now, I didn't want any undue saltwater getting onto it. "We all will be meeting her when we go to get her out. As a rule, most dragon will not attack if you mean them no harm."

I looked into her eyes, willing her to understand me, "But not ALL of them are good, just like not all us Vikings are."

She nodded furiously, I was uneasy as to whether she heard me or not, "Do you think I could have my own dragon someday Hiccup?"

I sucked in air, I could understand the desire, after all, she just got done riding on the back of a dragon and who wouldn't want one of their own? But, as an older cousin and a responsible one -sort of- at that, I couldn't tell her to go out and get one. "There are a lot of responsibilities and hardships that come to owning a dragon, Swan. I was nearly disowned for keeping Toothless."

She understood, I knew, but the gleam in her eye would not leave. The gleam that she had seen something amazing, knew something special, and it wouldn't ever leave.

I spent the rest of the afternoon curled up in Toothless's side, Swanwhite on her knees beside me, eagerly soaking up all that I knew of dragons. Questions like, "How do I find a dragon that would want to be my friend?" and "How should I approach one, so they know I just want to be near them?"

I taught her the best I could, the most of what I knew and had already shared with my friends and tribe. When a thought suddenly shot through my brain.

"You know…"

"What?" Swan asked eagerly.

"All of Berk is filled with dragon, we all train and keep them, if you were to come to Berk…"

"I could have a dragon?" Her eyes shone with hope and excitement.

I nodded, "But you have to remember Swanwhite, your tribe doesn't know about dragons yet, that they can be useful and our friends. That we don't have to fight and kill them. It would be difficult for them just to accept you showing up with a dragon, and not to shoot at it."

We both fell silent for a while, I began burnishing Toothless's scales with a special unguent that I found in the tannery. As loathe as I was to even put my hands in it the mixture, watching Toothless lean into with small murmurs of pleasure made my discomfort over the smell and the greasy slickness, seem like such a small meaningless thing.

Swan was at my side, watching with rapt attention, "What is that?"

"This," I nodded to the jar, because my hands were so greased that if I were to try and pick it up, the jar would slip, "this is a unguent. It has fish oil and… some other stuff in it…"

"Cow brains?"

I winced at her saying it out loud, but nodded to her. "Uncle Hanhista says it makes my leather shoes real soft."

"It does- wait, Uncle?"

"He's my mom's, erm, what do they call it? Bastard brother?"

I winced again, "So he's your mother's half brother?"

The blonde child nodded again while she reached out one hand and slipped it into the jar with no hesitation at all. She rubbed both hands together and then crawled over to Toothless's head. "Mr. Toothless, can I rub this into your paws?"

Toothless, who was in a pleasant bliss, the kind that made his eyes close and his mouth hang slightly open, slid one eye open before giving the child his paw. Swan happily attacked it with slick hands, making sure to rub every tiny scale near his huge claws, before they started to grow larger up his arms.

I hadn't seen Swanwhite's mother around, but I'm sure she had been at the shore when I first arrived, but she was obviously the one with blond hair, just like Hanhista's… It was strange, I decided, the man may have been a bastard child, but he was still related to Gudreck's mother, therefore he had ties to the leader, he could have any job he wanted. Why would he be a horse breeder and a tanner?

Even as I thought that, I realized that I myself, was a leader's son and chose to spend my time flying around and taming dragons rather than any other job I could be given. I smiled as I thought of my original inquiry, I could've been a great bread-maker.

A noise alerted me, I turned ready to force Toothless to jump the side of the ship, but I should have realized Tuffnut would have warned me had it been someone that didn't know of Toothless.

He looked so small standing there, poor little Gallin. He was nervous, as he always was, but this time his wide blue eyes were trained on Swanwhite. That's right… I had forgot that Swan had been tormenting the boy, who really, really didn't need more tormenting.

I didn't want the boy to think that I had replaced him with my cousin, so I smiled at him, "Swanwhite, I want you to meet the boy that has been helping me since I came here." She nodded good-naturedly and turned to see who I was talking about. Her face morphed into an ugly scowl.

"Gallin? That little pipsqueak has been helping you?"

The boy shuffled guiltily, as though it were his fault he was born small and without a voice.

I shook my head and fixed the blonde with a firm glare, "It seems dragons tend to like people that are quiet and unassuming…"

She shut up abruptly.

"He's been very helpful to me, and if you want to go on more flights, you need to learn to work with him. Gallin?"

The boy snapped to attention, that easy stance he usually took around Toothless and I was gone, which I mourned for. "Come on now Gallin, I left you all of Toothless's left side for you to buff out."

Gallin gave a twitchy smile before stepping up. I was pleased that Swanwhite fixed Gallin with a thoughtful look, rather than a glare.

I watched as the both of them began their work on Toothless, all the while rubbing the special unguent into the sensitive spots of Toothless's face; I was the only one he'd allow so close to his eyes. Maybe it wasn't flying, maybe it was just Toothless in general that was magical.

~~~~~With Heirs~~~~~

Tryggr huffed in boredom as he lied beneath trees near the field. The sprints were over, and the long-distance raced had already started an hour ago. To no one's surprise, Hanhista had done exactly what he had promised he would do, win his heat. Not only did he just win it, his mare Dyrr had won with nearly four meters between her and the second place horse. While that didn't seem like a lot of distance, for horses that were all generally the same, it was a neat thing to see.

But now he was bored again. There was nothing for anyone to do at the moment, the adults were sitting around telling stories, or making ale runs to where food and drink were set up. Stone games were being set up, and there were a few dice being rolled.

Leikr was with her father, hunting off toward the southern part of the island. Their priced hawks had made the journey with the rest of their tribe. To be a Master Hawker, it took dedication. Hawks had to be flown everyday, no matter what the weather to keep in top form.

They were certainly gorgeous creatures, with their soft and gleaming feathers. The most beautiful were perhaps their eyes, able to stare down anything with such a regal glance.

Really it was good that Leikr was spending time with her father, but it would be good for her to make some friends amongst her tribe, like Tryggr had done. If she kept herself in isolation, she wouldn't have anyone to back her up when she became leader… normally Tryggr would suggest her siblings. But since her only other sibling was a bastard child…

Though Leikr's father hadn't claimed his other daughter as one of his children, for the mother was a woman thrall that had been picked up during a raid, it was likely that he would in the coming years, especially since Leikr's mother had been growing steadily more ill; pneumonia, but like any good Viking, she'd probably get herself killed against a dragon raid or something.

Tryggr snorted as he looked around, Eyvi had crept off again, probably hunting as usual. Vrangi was walking around as though he owned the island, his little group practically slobbering at his feet. Tryggr had to admit, at the very least, Vrangi had presence.

Gurdrek, now he seemed rather off today, the boy was searching for something. And judging from the missing shadow of his sister, Tryggr gathered that she must have grown a brain and went off on her own.

Ballung and Eldi were skulking their way about, looking no doubt for Snotlout; who was wisely no where to be found by them. Though maybe if the two opened up their eyes and focused their seemingly shared brain, they would notice the brunet walking over by hordes of adults, vainly trying to look uninterested in the dice games.

Gallin was probably where ever Hiccup was as the small child had taken to following the red-head around; which was strange because usually, Snotlout was also where Hiccup was, most likely the boy's bodyguard.

Not that Hiccup knew it, the boy seemed to have his head in the clouds more than ever these days, but for the life of him, Tryggr couldn't figure out when the boy had become so popular.

Not that it was really a pressing issue for Tryggr, as he liked Hiccup well-enough; and a sight better than the more malicious children did. He even recalled playing back when they were children on occasion; but it was strange to leave the Gather with Hiccup cowering in shame with his father, and now that boy seemed to have a growing fan-base.

It took eyes, ears, and a brain to piece all the whispers from villagers of Berk together. Complete with the glowing praise of the boy, or the looks of pride when he passed by.

Mix that with Snotlout not beating his cousin up, Fishlegs and the twins following him around, and Astrid throwing barely concealed looks of both concern and care; you had yourself a mystery.

It was just starting to move toward evening, the sun was on its way down to the horizon; and it would be another few hours before who won the long-distance race became clear.

For those not keeping track of time and the amount of laps accomplished, food was about to be set out for the poor, unfortunate, and bored Vikings to occupy themselves.

That also meant many of the available children were going to be roped into finding firewood, and torches coated in special made pitch would be put up and ready to be lit.

Tryggr was just standing up to head to sit down at the Ehre table, when he noticed them.

Them would be: Hiccup, Gallin, Swanwhite, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Gromr, Snotlout, and Astrid, all of them meeting up together. Hmm, it seemed Hiccup was starting his own cult maybe?

It was worth looking into at any rate, and Tryggr cheerfully made his way over, something was up and the boy could feel it.

~~~~~with Hiccup~~~~~

I don't really know why Tryggr decided that my group would be more interesting than… whatever it _is_ that he did all day, but honestly, to have someone willingly just walk over and ask to stay with us for a while, it was rather nice.

The walk to the food tables was fun, Tuffnut it seemed got along pretty well with Tryggr, both of them hated when things got boring, and spent pretty much most of the walk comparing pranks.

I guess Ruffnut decided that she deserved some of the credit, which she did because have of the said pranks wouldn't have been possible without a twin… like that time they dressed up as one another and reeked havoc at the Village Hall.

Regardless, it was really nice. Astrid walked near my side, telling me of what she'd seen when she was down near the arena, Fishlegs and Gromr were talking about…types of fish I think? Snotlout was looking rather tired and seemed to have no mind at the moment for anything other than getting to where the food was being served, and he had my sympathies there, I was rather hungry myself.

I kept an eye on Swanwhite and Gallin. Gallin for the most part looked like he was about to bolt at any moment, while Swanwhite seemed to take to the idea that like dragons, Gallin wasn't so bad himself.

This led to her talking endlessly about her favorite type of weapon, fighting style, breed of dog, and her desire to some day help lead her tribe.

That alone made me sigh inwardly. It was a sad time when you had two children so close in age and both were heirs. If they both made it to adulthood, the father could choose to leave the leadership to either child. And if one didn't think that choice was the correct one, then you had this whole ceremonial fight and usually it ended with some very hurt feelings and a relationship that could never be healed.

My father had been lucky. He had become leader at the same time my Uncle Shield announced his marriage to my aunt who was the daughter of last leader for his tribe. It worked out so well because my father became the leader for Berk, Shield became the leader for Icelen. Then there was Spitelout, who was the youngest of the two brothers by three years, and never really a contender for the right to lead. The man seemed wholly content on his lot of not being the leader.

When I became leader, as I had no other siblings to fight me for it, I knew that I would appoint Snotlout as my second-in-command. It was my hope that my future child would also someday appoint Snotlout's children as their second-in-command and so on. We were family after all, and what would be a better person to watch your back than your own family?

The smell of food hit my nostrils and I felt the terror that was my stomach's hunger make itself known. I approached the tables and looked to my right, observing the setting sun.

The sky was awash with purples, reds, oranges, and blues, the colors of a perfect sunset. I took a deep breath, tonight would be the night to rescue the dragon. She had a right to someday fly under a sunset like that, just imagining the idea of never flying must be killing her.

I would make sure of it myself, that I would try and help her. I wouldn't ever be able to look Toothless in the eye again, if I didn't at least try to help his brethren. And despite his nonchalance when it came to the dragon herself, I could see the concern in his gleaming eyes. She was a dragon, he was a dragon, and his concern for another of his species was just part of his nature; the way a human would care for another human.

Hopefully, the Gods would be on my side for this night, I really needed some more luck.

_End of Chapter_

Yes, it's kind of slow, but next chapter will be the last chapter, so lots of stuff happening! Thank you all!

This has only been beta'ed twice. So if you see any glaring mistakes, please PM them, or leave them in a review. I know that this might not be for everyone, but I appreciate anyone taking the time to review, which means CC is as well. Some of you might be like, "Well, duh!" But just letting you all know I appreciate any comments. I also take little requests, like if you have a particularly funny idea that could be fit in, or you'd like to see a cameo of yourself as a random villager, I'm all for it!


	10. Rolling Thunder

The people have spoken! Almost all the reviewers have begged that this story not be ended in this chapter, and now that I've looked over the story, I couldn't agree more. So, this story will not be ending in this chapter. This huge chapter was split into two, and there will be an epilogue! Now, because I know I've kept you all waiting for this chapter, enjoy!

**Rating**: T for Teen, I am planning for violence in this chapter. I was mostly against killing any of the villagers in this, both since it is a gather and a dragon killing people would endear the villagers even less to the species. In the original plot of the story, Vrangi was supposed to be an older thug that tormented Hiccup and was killed by Toothless. I had planned for it to be rather violent and bloody, but… Vrangi has grown a little on me, so I hesitate to even kill _him_ off. Not to mention this story has grown so far past its original plot and three chapters I had intended.

**Warning:** Blood in this chapter, and most likely a very few minor characters will die in this chapter. If this were a Star Trek episode, those dying would be the red-shirts!

**Disclaimer: I do not own the story, nor do I own the movie adaptation.**

Special Thanks: And of course, thank you so much to all my reviewers! You are all so interactive and I really appreciate all the wonderful ideas, as well as suggestions for lore _I _didn't even know about! I hope you all continue to give more advice in the future!

Last note: Also, I am sure you all know how Gobber and Stoick speak, so I will not be writing out the accents. I don't think I could do it proper justice.

This has only been beta'd once, all mistakes are mine. Please be polite in pointing them out, I'm always happy to correct a mistake.

**IMPORTANT! HICCUP DOES NOT DIE!** You may all continue now, I just wanted to make sure you all knew that.

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Chapter 10 - Rolling Thunder

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"You did _what_!" the voice was barely a whisper, but carried with it the force of Thor's hammer blow.

Ziu flinched and squirmed on the hard tree trunk beneath him. He'd knew Stoick would be displeased with him, for speaking about dragons to another person that was outside the tribe.

And Stoick didn't disappoint. Ziu found himself wishing the hulking man would haul off and smack him, scream at him, roar like a fearsome Nightmare; anything but go silent. When Stoick got silent, worry would sweep through the villagers like a village fire, each tensed like a taunt branch pulled too far back.

The brunet huddled in on himself, wishing that Yggdrasil's roots would raise up and pull him deep into earth. Maybe on the way, he could bash his head against some rocks to help draw out some of the stupid cluttering in his brain.

"Do you _know_ what you've done?" Another harsh growl, too low and angry to be a real whisper.

Ziu may have been shaking but he would bring more shame to himself and disgust his tribe leader further by whimpering at the full brunt of Stoick's anger. At that moment the brunet would rather face down a hundred sea serpents than be the reason his leader was turning as red as the braided hair.

Stoick restrained himself from knocking his villager's head into a tree a few times, how could that man be so absent minded to speak of dragons to someone not in the tribe? And not only speak of dragons, but to reveal that they were living in Berk?

He leveled one finger at the twitching man in front of him, breathing like a bull through his nose, "You are lucky, you hear me? Lucky, that you didn't mention anything about the Queen and Hiccup and our new "pets", or I would send you on your journey to Hel's realm myself!"

Hmm, well maybe he wouldn't go _that_ far, but he'd be damned if Ziu's slip of the tongue -and brain- would result in any more pain being brought against his son. Bad enough the boy's overgrown salamander had stowed away on the ship. Oh, yes! He knew about the black tricky devil, thinking he was so slick and smart as he darted around the island.

The only reason Stoick hadn't pinned his son's ears back and given the black beast a good dressing down for thinking it could outsmart him, was… well, because the boy was always getting himself up to trouble, and Stoick was too busy with the gather to be able to keep an eye on him all the time.

Toothless had been becoming more emboldened these days though, going so far as to be dozing in practically plain sight of the Gather field. Nearly gave Stoick an ulcer when he had seen Hiccup's expression of horror that the dragon was so close to nearly a thousand Vikings.

The anger that he'd been cursed with ever since childhood was receding, like a beast that had taken a sip of the blood it had drawn. Breathed in the terror that it needed to live on, and now was going to curl back up in the back of his mind; content as a kitten.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighed deeply, the red veil clearing from his brain. He waved his hand at the terrified Viking in front of him, "I had figured someone would let it slip somewhere. Dragons are too much a part of our lives now, for us to not speak of them. I am disappointed, but I'm sure you know full well what you've done."

Ziu gasped for air as his body went slack without even realizing that he'd needed oxygen, and the tension that had formed around the accumulated Berkians eased off. People were nodding in approval of their leader, to control his anger so well and to decide that now was not the time to draw even _more_ attention to the tribe.

Stoick nodded as well, but to himself, he'd deal with this all later, back on the safety off the ships when the tribe wasn't in display of the others.

He looked over the group, making sure to make eye contact with as many as possible. "This is a warning! Pay more attention to who you are near and what you are saying, we can't have another slip up like this."

Murmurs of agreement met his ears and Spitelout reached down to haul Ziu up from the ground. The other villagers patted the man on the back. They did not approve of his actions, but he was still one of them, still a Berkian.

Stoick made a dismissing motion with his huge hand, and the crowd dispersed. As they were leaving Stoick found himself staring off into the forest, the adrenaline of the moment easing away and leaving it blissfully blank for a few seconds.

"Well, that was exciting."

Stoick found his lips twitching slightly, attempting to smile despite the grimness that he felt.

"What should I do Gobber? What would I do if my tribe was harassed over this information?"

Gobber snorted, "Ziu only told one man and that man is Hanhista. I wouldn't be too worried over that man spilling anything. More tightlipped than a Terror over the location of a food cache."

"You don't worry over anything enough."

"Why should I worry with you as a chief?"

Stoick closed his eyes. The statement wasn't given in a sarcastic manner, nor in a manner of trying to kiss-up. The words might have been, "Your hair is red" and said in the same way. It was a fact to Gobber, a statement, and made in such a way that Stoick felt that Odin had blessed him with such a tribe and such a friend. A friend that believed so thoroughly that he wouldn't lead the tribe astray, that the blond couldn't even think that Stoick wouldn't manage to persevere.

The red-haired man might have thought to say thank you, but he realized that it would have been insulting to Gobber. The man in question hadn't given the statement looking for a response, and he hadn't even meant it as blatant encouragement. He'd made the statement in faith, and to say thank you, would certainly have made the blond man angry. Angry that his chief thought that he needed thanks when he was just stating the truth.

So instead, he opened his eyes and turned to stride away toward the campsites. He paused only momentarily to clasp a heavy hand onto his best friend's shoulder, before he moved off.

The chief was in much better spirits. He passed a youngish woman, who had light strawberry blonde hair and startled blue eyes. Startled because she was currently in the path of a man that had been so incredibly fearsome minutes ago.

He stopped and nodded at the hardly-out-her-teens woman, "Oh, are you one of the cooks on this island?"

He noticed a plate of piping hot sweet cakes, flaky and slathered in honey.

The woman blinked before she remembered herself, "Yes, I am. Do you want one?"She lifted the plate to him.

"Don't mind if I do!" He winked at the woman and grabbed himself a cake.

The woman gazed after him, a funny look on her face, before wordlessly turning toward Gobber.

Who was ignoring her, but not on purpose.

Gobber grinned and gave a whoop, who was the best at cheering up the chief? He was! His self congratulations was cut off as his fake tooth popped out of his mouth. Snarling obscenities he went chasing after it; the tribe could tame dragons but couldn't find him a tooth that fit?

The woman stared a little more at the man that was now currently digging through pine needles and dead leaves…

" 'che, Berkians." And she walked off toward the Gather Field shaking her head.

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-With Astrid-

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Astrid was never one to really give much thought to fate and all that nonsense. Ever since she was a kid, she'd believed that you made your own luck and your own destiny. If you failed, you didn't try hard enough. If you were wounded in battle, you weren't fast enough. There was no magical force called "luck" and certainly nothing that made it "good" or "bad".

She knew Hiccup believed in both fate and luck. And while the girl wanted to shake him by his narrow shoulders, screaming at the top of her lungs that he had everything he needed to become great without his belief in luck, she resisted.

Gods were one thing, this strange mystical thing called luck was another. Gods were real, they were powerful, and she whole-heartedly believed that they could screw up a insignificant human's life or making it infinitely better on a whim.

Hiccup believed that he had a massive amount of luck on his side, both good and bad, all the while thinking that the God's were the ones that had given it to him. Astrid believed that the handsome -in his own way- boy was touched by Odin himself. He was made to do great things, but he wasn't destined for it. The god's had made him great, but whether or not he ever used that potential was wholly up to him.

Astrid paused in her journey back to the arena, night was falling quickly now, like a blanket cast over an open flame. Her thoughts were usually centered on Hiccup these days, where as in the past they had only been filled with the emptiness of being the best. It had consumed her, eating her from the inside out. The constant need to be better, to run faster, fight more viciously, to be first in everything.

That kind of thinking burned you out fast, and she knew first hand just how quickly. At the age of fourteen she was already finding herself waking up in the morning and wondering what was the point of crawling out of the bed. She was so far ahead of her peers, already so advanced why did she need to get up?

Then Hiccup started to beat her. She couldn't even fathom it, him going from being the most accident prone person she'd ever seen, to scaring a Hideous Zippleback back into it's holding pen.

She'd gone from being consumed by the need of being first, to being bored with the idea of having no one else to prove herself against, to being filled with the incoherent desire to find out how Hiccup had managed to overcome her.

And those shrugs he gave her while doing it, those nervous smiles, those confused looks as though he had no idea how he'd done it himself, pissed her off further. She was sure he was giving those looks on purpose, to drive her even more mad.

Of course, she found out much later that it had been true confusion, and after that flight, the desire to be first seemed to dim in the sight of wispy clouds. The need that had consumed her, that had always felt like the most important thing, suddenly wasn't so large a matter when the entire world was spread out in front of her like a child's colored parchment.

Hiccup hadn't only managed to show her that there was more to life then being first, he'd helped her put things in perspective. Nothing was more important then her family, tribe, and friends. She woke up one morning, months after the fight with the queen dragon, and found her head cleared. There was no buzzing urge to go beat down her peers, to cement her lofty place above them. There was no pressing boredom, no despair that she'd reached her peak and had nothing left to achieve.

There was a desire now to embrace the day, to jump on the back of her Nadder and soar to the right of the boy she was growing more and more fond of as days went by. There was a peace in her heart now, and that was why she didn't believe in luck, or destiny. What could she had done to deserve such great luck to be the girl that Hiccup wanted to be near? What would she have had to done in a past life to be given a destiny at his side and flying with such magnificent creatures?

She could have just as easily been born in a different tribe, away from dragons, away from Hiccup…

"Hi there!"

Only years of training kept Astrid from jumping back and going into a defensive crouch.

She instead stood straighter, pausing in mid-stride. A girl was standing there, leaning against the wall of the arena, shadows had hidden her and she'd been so still.

Astrid nodded to the child, for that was what she was, before continuing on past the girl. Perhaps the child had thought that she would stop and talk to her, but the blonde was in a hurry, the group would be gathering soon to discuss the rest of the plan.

It showed on the child's face as it fell from a hopeful look to one of determined grimness. She shoved off the wall and trailed after Astrid, who took a deep breath and tried to remember her patience.

"I said hi!" The girl exclaimed again catching up to Astrid's side. "You're Astrid Hofferson(1) right?"

Astrid closed her eyes and counted to five, "Yes, I'm Astrid."

"I've heard all about you! All the older girls think that you're so strong! And did you know all the guys in my tribe are afraid of you?"

Astrid found herself unbending a little to the girl, after all, she seemed to be so hopeful that the blonde would talk to her. "Really? Well, I probably could beat up the boys in your tribe, but it wouldn't be very polite to do so at a tribal gather."

"My name's Ragna!" Astrid gave a small wave as her blue eyes swept over the sands, trying to determine if there was any way out besides the way she'd just come.

The girl was not giving up, Astrid was a Viking that all the girls looked up to, she proved that just because you were a girl didn't mean that you couldn't cause icky boys to scatter in fear.

"My dad is the arena keeper, he takes care of all the dragons!"

Ragna didn't even attempt to keep the pride out of her voice over the idea of her father having such a position.

Astrid paused, this time allowing her eyes to sweep back over the child. Taking a second closer look. She had hair so brown that in the night it glittered black in the light of the moon, and equally liquid dark eyes peered out from bangs in hope that she'd be taken seriously. She was small, but not the shortest child Astrid had ever seen, and wore a simple brown dress that reached her knees.

It was the vest that caught Astrid's eyes, furred and soft but patterned like scales. She'd never seen anything quite like the vest, and Ragna was like a bloodhound, the dark-haired child caught the scent of Astrid's curiosity.

Very proudly, and quite respectfully, the girl brushed her hand over the fur, "My granny made this when she was a kid and has passed it down through the girls in our family. Mom says that it was made from," she paused looking around carefully before leaning closer to whisper, "a fur trout. Mommy also said that you remind her of Granny, which is why I wanted to meet you."

Astrid nodded, Ragna's grandmother must have been a strong woman to suffer through the cold needed to reach a fur trout's home. The famed trout was the only fish known to have fur grow from its scales, and only lived in the most bitterly cold waters. And it was obvious that this girl had worshipped her grandmother, no wonder she was following Astrid around.

"You say your father works here? Do you often spend time here as well?"

Perhaps this girl would know of an easier way to get the dragon out, and if Astrid could get the girl to give up the secret…

Ragna stood even more proudly, "I spend almost all my time here! I grew up on these sands. There isn't anything I don't know about dragons and about this arena!"

Astrid smiled, willing to allow the girl her moment, there was quite a few things this girl wouldn't know about dragons, considering before Hiccup, no one had ever seen a Night Fury.

"Do you like dragons Ragna?" Astrid posed the question gently, and she already saw the girl clamming up, unsure of how she should answer.

"I-I…"

"Cause you know," Astrid began as she walked toward the pens, "I love dragons."

Ragna's eyes grew round, only enhancing the darkness of the brown until there was no definite end of the iris and the pupil. "I love dragons too! I love everything about them." the girl admitted. "I love the way the look, with so many bright colors, and I like the way they sound when they sleep."

She shook her head, "But they won't ever let me near them," She held up a hand which bore a serious looking scar, "I tried to touch one once, but it didn't like it."

Astrid managed to squash down the feeling of wanting to help the girl, but it would be best if she didn't find out. Already two children from tribes other than Berk had found out about the balance between dragons and humans that could be reached. To add another child would be disaster. "I'm sure you'll make a great Viking." Astrid said, instead of what she really wanted to.

Ragna looked down, a little crestfallen, "Yeah…"

"So, is there anyway to get out of the arena? Besides that archway?"

The girl bit her lip and scuffed a sandaled foot about the sand. "Well…"

"Yes?"

"There is one way, but it's a secret."

Astrid put a finger to her chin and eyed the girl, "How about this, you show me the secret exit, and I'll let you touch a dragon."

The change that came over the girl was so dramatic that it caused Astrid to blink, "Really?"

"Yes."

Ragna shook her headsuddenly, "You won't get me in trouble will you? Tell my Dad that I like dragons? I need to be a good Viking someday and I will kill dragons!"

Astrid wasn't sure who the girl was trying to convince, herself or Astrid. What was with all these kids these days? Kids that admired dragons and were so easy in accepting that they were good creatures?

Was it maybe all children were like that until there parents expressed their desires the kids prove themselves by being great hunters?

She could imagine many of the older Vikings might hold a healthy respect for what dragons could do, maybe even appreciate them aesthetically. But so far most kids seemed to be able to hold on to that dream of flying, of taming dragons, of wanting such a pet.

"Follow me. Remember that dragon captured earlier today?"

The girl looked at her carefully, "Yes, and promise you won't tell my dad I like dragons."

"I promise, and that dragon will be the one you're going to touch."

The girl hesitated, "The Dervish?"

Astrid paused and raised an eyebrow at the girl, "I thought you wanted to touch a dragon?"

Ragna tapped her fingertips together nervously, "Yeah… but the last dragon nearly took my hand off and it was only a Terror. A Dervish could swallow me whole!"

"You think I'd allow a dragon to eat you? Don't you think I'm a great Viking? Or was that a lie?"

Ragna looked like she'd been slapped, "No! No! No! I think you're amazing! Of course you would protect me," she waved a hand dismissively.

Astrid allowed the stern look on her face to melt away into a small grin, "I know that you admire me, don't worry, I'm not mad."

The girl look thankful and followed closely behind the blonde. As they neared the pen that had the Dervish.

Astrid paused at the planks, looking in between them to see the dragon lying pitifully in the sand, looking nearly dead already.

She looked down at the locked and barred door. How were they supposed to get-

A jangling behind her drew Astrid's attention. Twisting her head, she observed the girl carefully pulling a ring of keys from a rope belt around her waist. Again Ragna looked guilty, "You won't tell my dad will you?"

Astrid smiled, "No, I won't tell your dad anything about this night." She winked for good measure and the child eagerly rushed forward, inserting a key into the lock and twisting it.

The door swung open toward them, and Ragna bravely squared her shoulders, she was a Vikings, she wasn't scared-

Astrid walked past the girl who was preparing herself, and stood with her hands loose at her sides.

She cleared her throat to grab the dragon's attention, and listless orange eyes slid over her, before flicking away.

Astrid saw no outward signs that the dragoness was aggressive, or Hel, even slightly annoyed, only depressed. She moved forward, but a hand clutched at her shirt.

Reaching behind her, Astrid captured the hand that was grasping her shirt and pulled the girl through the threshold of the doorway. They both now stood in front of the great beast, but the said beast was lying more meekly than a kitten.

Tugging on the hand again, Astrid walked up slowly to the dragoness, who was completely ignoring them. The two girls stopped in front of the large head, and covering Ragna's hand with her own, she moved their combined hands toward the warm hide.

The hand beneath her own was shaking, but Astrid was ready for even the swiftest movement. Instead of moving, the dragoness breathed out slowly, accepting the hands, accepting everything.

The doorway behind the two children was not big enough for her to slip out even if she were to eat the humans, and she wouldn't make it out of the tribe with her wing, her poor wing.

Astrid felt pity stir inside her as their hands finally came to rest on the muzzle of the dragoness.

Ragna exhaled shakily, she was really touching a live dragon, she was! It was so soft beneath her hand, and so warm. Astrid left the smaller hand where it was and traced her own hand up the nose to the forehead before slowly walking to the side.

She kneeled down in front of the female dragon's eye and said with the barest whisper, "Don't give up hope, we'll be saving you tonight."

That formerly listless eyes seemed to widen and take her in more carefully. Astrid nodded one last time, before giving a gentle pat, "Come on Ragna, let's let her sleep."

The little girl had been reluctant to enter, but now she was even more reluctant to leave the warm side, "But, I-"

Astrid gave her a look that she gave her younger peers when they weren't listening and the girl gave a small squeak. "I promise Ragna, you'll be able to pet another dragon in your life, but now it's time to leave her to her rest."

The girl nodded and fixed her eyes pointedly on the torch that was blazing away in, shedding light to the pen.

Ragna left first, but Astrid halted in the threshold and turned to look back at the dragoness that had lifted her large head from the ground to stare back, "Don't forget." Astrid said softly, before walking out and allowing the door to slam shut behind her.

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-With Hiccup-

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I laid in the grass on the hillside, my eyes watching the sky as the stars winked out from the inky blackness. Every so often, I'd raise a hand up and try to reach one, the sky always looked so close…even from the ground. I don't know why I felt such longing, but really I wanted to touch one.

At my side was Snotlout who was repeatedly rolling a die he'd been given earlier, trying to see if they were loaded or not, or maybe he was just testing his luck. Gallin was silent on my other side and was rubbing his smooth hands over an equally smooth scrap of leather, enjoying the softness. His eyes seemed peaceful, and I was thankful for that. The boy should be like that more often, instead of always looking over a shoulder.

Swanwhite had finally fallen asleep, worn out from the excitement of the day. Her head was hardly a weight as it laid against my thigh, her hair spilling out over my lap like a shimmering blanket. I was insanely pleased as I'd never had a younger sister, but I had a feeling that this sense of brotherly pride bubbling up in my chest would be what it would feel like.

Fishlegs was a little further down the hill, dozing himself. Gromr had left off to his campsite, and I was, again, grateful, it would be difficult to discuss a rescue with him nearby.

Tryggr hadn't left yet, he was sprawled out on his stomach, his head resting on his folded arms, wool-gathering.

Ruffnut was here, idly re-braiding her hair as the group waited for her brother and Astrid to join up with them.

In the silence -which was rather rare in this group- I was left to my own thoughts. And right now they were centered on my cousins. Spending time with Swanwhite had made me wonder if I could ever get Gudrek to accept me the same way Swan had.

I wasn't daft enough to think that my cousin might someday fall asleep with his head on my lap, but as I carded my fingers though my hair, I found myself wondering at what we were missing.

I hadn't known the joy of having a close relationship with my cousin until I became true friends with Snotlout, and I'll be damned if the teen didn't always know the right way to cheer me up. Whether it was fishing, or swimming in the summer, or flying at break neck pace over the village, I found myself cherishing the familial bonds the two of us now had.

And now in a near silent wonder, I found myself amazed at the new joy of having another cousin wanting to be near me, to learn from me. When Swanwhite fell asleep on my thigh, a moment of clarity came washed over me. I felt a determination to latch on to my whole family and never let them go. I'd been without their love and attention for so long, and now that they wanted to be my friend. I was determined to keep it that way.

I could remember when Gudrek and I had first became real "frenemies". Really the whole situations had been strange. True, Gudrek and I had never really been kind to one another, but we'd weren't like we were now at that age.

I sighed, slightly depressed. We were able to actually be around one another at that age, but it was all my fault that he hated me now.

How was I supposed to know that the little toy knife I'd found was the knife from a tribe leader? And if it was such an important knife, why was it just lying around in the middle of the woods, apparently just left there?

I had seen that knife and thought that my cousin would be happy to have it, as the boy had been obsessed with weapons as a child. And when I'd given it to him, I got a true smile from the boy.

As anyone can expect, the knife was identified days later, and Gudrek had been called a thief.

I, of course, told my father that I had found it and given it to Gudrek, and the punishment was never carried out. But the humiliation the boy had felt never went away, and the boy thought I had done it on purpose.

I don't know who told him that, but I had a feeling it was Vrangi, even though he'd known I didn't know the knife belonged to someone already.

Sighing again and leaning back on my hands, I tilted my head back to look at the sky again.

Behind me, Tuffnut made himself known, but for once -and thankfully- he was quiet. He sat down carefully and joined the rest of us in lazing about, the only one of us missing now was Astrid.

Who appeared at the bottom of the hill almost magically. She raised one hand up to the rest of us as she climbed the rest of the way up the hill.

"I've found the secret exit, we need to get ready, the last of the Vikings are going to sleep."

Behind Astrid, Tryggr's brow furrowed in confusion.

I nodded, all around me the others were lifting their heads up, Swanwhite gave a muffled sleep whine and lifted herself up. I watched in amusement as she spit out strands of silky hair that had become plastered across her lips. For a moment she was immobile before snapping alive as though she'd been hit by a bolt of lighting.

"We're ready? Ready to save the dragon?" Her voice was hushed but bursting with anticipation.

All of our eyes widened simultaneously and I reached a hand out to clamp over her mouth but the damage was done.

Tryggry's eyes widened, as though something had dawned in his eyes. "So _that's_ what the secret is!"

It was Ruffnut that saved us all, "Yeah," she said with a wink, "We wanted to see if we could break out. How cool a prank would that be?"

Tryggr actually thought about that, before a sly smile broke out on his face, "that would be the _best._ They would all wake up tomorrow and not have a clue where it went!"

I didn't allow the relief I was feeling to show, lest I tip him off that this mission wasn't just for a _prank_, but damn, I was glad that Ruffnut had thought so fast.

I plastered a smile on my face, "Okay then guys, you ready to do this?"

Eager faces all nodded at me.

The journey to the arena was quiet, and for a group of teenagers and children, we managed to stay rather quiet; it was a nice surprise.

Astrid led the way, as she'd been there earlier. My eyes glanced toward her every once and a while, she seemed to be rather happy, but beneath the happiness was a strong determination.

She led us over to the back of the arena and glance around a few times before pressing her hand under an inconspicuous plank and a door swung open. She ushered us in quickly, pushing on our shoulders to until we were all through. Her icy irises glanced around one more time before she darted in herself, closing the door behind her.

Astrid opened her mouth to talk, but she was cut off, a small voice came from behind us. "You said you wouldn't tell anyone!"

A dark haired girl was glaring at us, the light the torches cast cause shadows to play across her face. She look incredibly angry.

Astrid strode over to her and dropped to her knees, "Ragna listen to me, we don't have much time. You remember the Dervish?"

The girl nodded, her eyes cast over the rest of us in suspicion. Astrid dropped her voice and whispered low enough only for me to hear since I was standing so close, "That dragon is in a lot of pain, and we're going to try to help her. To do that, though, we have to get her out. Do you understand?"

Ragna looked slightly put out, "Yes, but I want to help."

Astrid looked back at me and I gave her a shrug, "Sure."

Inwardly I was wincing, why didn't I just put up banners asking for all the children of the tribes to help out? Better yet, let me get a horn and walk down the tribe blowing through it. Announce to the whole gather that we were indeed had a Night Fury on the island, no you couldn't see it, and oh yeah we're rescuing the dragon you guy's are going to sacrifice?

Tryggr just pranced up as happy as a colt and clapped me on the shoulder, "The more the merrier!"

As the others began to file forward, I glanced down at the hand that still hadn't moved from my shoulder. Tryggr leaned down slightly, "I don't know exactly what's going on here, but it _is not_ a prank. Astrid just said something about rescuing an injured dragon. What's really going on?"

I threw my hands up skyward, "I don't even know what's going on anymore. It started as a prank and has snowballed into this, you know as much as I do."

Tryggr fixed me with an unwavering glare that he must have learned from Leikr, "I don't know who you think I am, but I know you're the leader of this bunch and a little bit smarter then just to amble through this without knowing what's going on. And I'm starting to get irritated." He added that last part as thought that part of his little speech should mean something to me.

I was panicking now, "Fine! Fine," I started again in a whisper, "I'll explain it all later but we've _got_ to get moving."

"Fine."

He moved his hand from my shoulder, plastered back on a smile for the others, then headed off again. I hadn't known he was so good at acting.

I breathed in relief as I had my personal space back to myself, but Tryggr stopped and looked back, "Be warned though Hiccup, I'm only in this "prank" as long as its fun, so you better make sure it stays that way."

I nodded, and pushed past him, "I got it, fun."

Really, between the lot of us, we should manage just fine. It was pretty simple. That girl, Ragna I think, went to unlock the door, but Astrid shook her head.

"Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, come here. I need you to crank this open," She gestured at the turn-crank nearby.

Snotlout stuck out his chest and stalked over, "I can do this with one arm," and he gave his idea of a dashing smile. I rolled my eyes and gestured to Tuffnut and Fishlegs to be nearby to help him, you know, just in case…

Sure enough, Snotlout did manage to get it open, it was keeping it open that the teen had trouble with, and snickering, the two nearby helped out.

Tryggr drew his sword from its sheath, but I held up a hand at the same time Astrid and Ruffnut protested to it. He gave us a strange look, but I ignored it and walked softly into the pen.

It was quiet, almost no sound coming forth except for the breathing of the dragoness. She was curled up, forlornly huddled with her head under her uninjured wing.

"My name is Hiccup." I told her quietly. She lifted her head and stared at me, then startled when she saw the pen's gate opened.

I reached out a hand to her, unwavering and steady, she wouldn't hurt me I thought over and over again. I had practiced earlier with Toothless what I wanted to say. I told him in my language what I wanted to say, and he repeated it back to me in what I was cautiously calling dragonese, _"__**No hurt." **_I hissed out to her.

She blinked slowly at me, one eye-lid closing and then the second. She stood on her legs, one forearm all she had to balance, as the other was nearly dragging the ground.

"I will help you, your wing, will you let me?"

She stared more, understanding only that I wished something of her. I approached the wing the was injured and reached out.

The dragoness hissed slightly, and flinched away, _**"I help."**_

I could tell she still didn't want to let me close, but I was offering her a chance to fly again, and it was worth it to her if she had to tolerate my presence.

I placed on hand at the injured forearm, and she flinched only slightly, still expecting violence. Slowly my hand slid up, her head watching the entire time until I reached her dislocated shoulder. I took a deep breath and placing one hand above on the shoulder and the other on her upper wing, I braced myself. Then I thought better of it, "Tryggr, come here for a second."

The large boy crept in, his eyes darting around wildly, delight and disbelief filling his eyes, "Hiccup what in the name of Odin are you doing?"

Blinking stinging sweat out of my eyes I ignored the question, "Come here, I need your help."

He walked over, a little more easy, but he skirted the Dervishes mouth, "What?"

"Position your hands underneath mine."

I waited as he did so carefully, "Now what?"

"When I say so, we're going to pop her shoulder back in place."

"Oh okay- wait what?"

"Now!"

I was glad he didn't argue and added his force, the dragon gave a roar of pain. Outside I heard Astrid hiss at Gallin and Swanwhite to go watch the doors and make sure no one was coming.

The dragoness seemed to have recovered, and before she could swallow one of us, here eyes widened as she realized she could move her arm again.

I smiled up at her, "Better right? Now, come with me, I'm going to help get you out of here."

She had no reason to listen to me, or to follow me, or to even trust me, but I must have a really believable face because she made the slight movement of a nod and I turned hastily.

At my side Tryggr was grinning like a fool, "I can't believe I just touched a live dragon and it _didn't_ try to eat me."

"Yes, very happy for you, now let's try to get out of here."

As soon as the dragon's tail cleared the pen, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Tuffnut pulled back from the crank with equal huffs of relief. The Dervish stared at all the humans accumulated around her, and if the situation was causing me to sweat, I'd have laughed at the expression in her eyes.

Swanwhite was up near her face as she was on all fours, she reached out and stroked the dragoness's nose, "Wow, you're such a pretty dragon, are you feeling better?"

Fishlegs walked over to observe her shoulder, "It looks good Hiccup, let's get her out of here."

"Right, let's get moving!"

We were like a small army, moving as quickly as we could back toward the secret exit. Even if someone was near the front of the arena, if we left out the back, they'd never see her.

We were back down the long hallway, Ruffnut reached the door first and pushed it open. The group filed out first, leaving me with the dragon. I turned to her, "It will be a tight fit, do you think you can make it out?"

She rumbled in response and began forward. It was tough but she tucked her wings in closely and went through the door sideways.

I followed behind and gasped at the fresh crisp night air. We'd done it! Well, sort of… we still needed to get her off the island.

"Quickly! Go!"

We took off running back the way we'd come, avoiding the campsites. I was pleased to see the Dervish keeping up, despite the lingering pain she'd have in her shoulder.

I noted with humor, that Ragna didn't even know why she was running with the group, but she'd seen Swanwhite, one of the heirs to her village and figured if an heir was doing it, it couldn't be too bad… right?

There were only a few close calls. Serving women going to their camps or houses after finishing off the last of the dishes. Thralls attending to the last of their chores for the day quietly retiring.

All that was needed was to avoid anyone until we hit the forest. Then the Dervish could run through the branches, the likelihood of someone spotting her then dropped to almost nothing.

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-With Hanhista-

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He'd just wanted a peaceful night, was that really too much to ask? He'd wanted to just ride Dyrr out to the seaside and look at the moon, maybe discover the meaning of life if he thought hard enough about it.

But oh no, couldn't give -stupid gods- him a break could they?

There he was just sitting in the saddle, focusing on the breathing of the horse beneath him and enjoying the refreshing night air, when his horse goes into the first panic attack he'd ever seen it throw.

It was the first time Dyrr had ever bucked him, and it had been a long while since he had actually been bucked at all. He found himself face first in the salty terrible tasting ocean, eyes stinging and blurry as he surged out of the water in time to see huge wings snap out above his heads. Hanhista's mouth dropped open, and everything else faded away, how on earth? When had- but what?

Back on the beach he heard cheers, and his eyes focused on a group of kids, each slapping one another on the shoulders and laughing.

The first heartbeat was to go over there and yell his fool head off at them, how dare they spook his horse in such a way?

The second heartbeat was to _still _go over there and ask them why the just let the Dervish go-

Oh Hel, they just let the Dervish go!

Staring up in open-mouthed wonder he watched as the beast did one neat loop in the sky before it beat a hasty retreat from the island.

"Smart dragon…"

What was he _thinking_?

No, no he was _not_ going to think about this right now, he was getting back up on his horse and he was going to bed. Because when stuff like this happened, it meant that he was not sleeping enough.

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-With Hiccup-

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I'd just finished saying goodnight to the group. All were pleased, even Tryggr who decided that maybe this whole "prank" business wasn't as complicated as he thought it was.

I'd stayed behind for a few minutes, I wanted to go say good night to Toothless, but I didn't know quite where he was.

Usually, I would have seen him somewhere, but I suppose he might have fallen asleep somewhere.

Regardless, I started walking back to the Gather Field. I was too wound up from the release of the Dervish, that I couldn't even think of going to sleep. Fields were a good place to see the sky and I just needed to settle down for a while.

It was eerily quiet as I approached the field, I was glad the most of the tribes were too worn out from today to have been awake, or the mission would have failed miserably.

A slight breeze brushed past my face, and a tingle went up my spine from the brief cold. I was lost to the night, standing there gently rocking on my feet and humming a soft hymn under my breath.

The first punch knocked me off my feet. Pain blossomed across my cheek and I yelled in pain. I shook my head violently to clear the sudden confusion, and look up from where I was lying on the ground.

I didn't recognize the man that was standing above me. He had no colors to show what tribe he belonged to. His face was non-descript, normal brown hair, equally normal brown eyes.

I blinked in surprise, "Hey, what are you-"

A foot found my side and I scream in pain, it felt like million specks of metal were pricking me inside my skin.

I curled into a ball and squeezed my eyes shut from the sheer surprise and incredible pain.

I opened my eyes in time to see the second kick coming and rolled away. I made it to my feet, but I was unsteady. "Who are you?" I screamed at him, rage, pain, and confusion raising my voice.

"I'm here to kill you."

"_What?"_

"It's nothing personal. My boss doesn't like you, so he sent me. He just doesn't want to have to see your face for the rest of the Gather." The man gave a chilling smile and surged forward again. His fist caught me just under my chest, and I felt the air leave my lungs. I flailed in pain unable to gasp and somehow managed to bring my knee up into his stomach.

I forced myself to stagger away, I was for all, intent and purposes, planning on racing to my own campsite, to my tribe. When I felt a new pain, one different then the pain of a fist or foot.

It was a sharper, more precise pain. I fell to my knees, my eyes wide as I saw the dagger sticking through my shoulder. "ARGH!"

The pain seemed to billow out from the point the knife blade entered. I didn't even hear the approach of that mysterious man from behind me, so great was the pounding of the blood in my ears.

He planted his boot in the middle of my shoulder blades and shoved me down. I inhaled dirt and grass. All that my brain could focus on was the pain in my shoulder, the pain in my ribs, fuck just the pain. I was chocking on it.

And the bastard put his foot on the blade and _pushed_.

I scream, inhaled more dirt, so much pain. My vision swam once or was it twice?

And then the pressure was gone.

I pushed myself up onto my hands, heaving to get up off the ground. My shoulder blared it's protest as I nearly passed out.

My savior, I turned and looked. "Gudrek?"

The boy turned and looked at me with a very serious look, before he turned back to look at my, well what, assassin?

"Who are you? Why are you hurting my cousin?"

"Why do you care little boy? Sure you don't want to join in?"

Gudrek flinched, before he drew his blade.

"What I do to my cousin is family business. You have no right to hurt him."

The man laughed, "Oh, little boy, thinks he can beat me?"

Gudrek look less confident, but no less resolved.

Where was Toothless? Why wasn't he here? Was he going to let my cousin and I die? Had he finally had enough to me?"

"Toothless!" I cried out, "Where are you?"

Both my assassin and my cousin looked at me, "Who are you-"

A black shadow sliced the night. A roar that seemed to rock the field echoed in rage. '_Toothless'_, my mind cried.

Toothless came to a stop in front of me protectively. With him standing so close, I noticed the dark -nearly black- blood on all his legs. "Toothless, y-you're bleeding!"

The assassin backed up, "_This_ is Toothless? Boy, are you blind?"

The man drew his blade, and made ready to attack, but Toothless didn't even give the man a chance to raise his blade. Claws sharper than daggers slid into the man's flesh. Tearing ribbons of flesh off of his body. In one neat bite, Toothless tore out the vibrating throat.

"NIGHT FURY!"

It wasn't Gudrek who yelled, he was too stunned to even move, it was the first wave of Vikings to reach the clearing.

"To-Toothless, go! Run!"

I managed to pull myself to my knees as the large head bent low to nuzzle me apologetically. "Toothless, please I'm not mad, but you need to go."

This felt like a bad deja vue, or maybe it was a nightmare? Had I fallen asleep without knowing it? But, my shoulder was in such pain-

A Viking man through a spear and I gasped as the point bounced off of Toothless's well tended scales.

"NO!"

Without thought, I threw myself over Toothless's side, arms around his neck.

All around me was chaos. Berkians were arriving and gasping seeing the two of us in such a state. Other tribes were screaming in confusion at seeing a dead man and a Night Fury.

If I wasn't so out of it, I might have wondered how they knew it was a Night Fury if they'd never seen one of his kind before.

Arguments were breaking out, and I couldn't have cared any more. I was so tired, and Toothless was rumbling in an attempt to soothe me.

I just wanted to lie here for a little while longer, my tribe wouldn't let Toothless die, he's saved all their lives, it was safe enough… right?

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-end of chapter-

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1) This is the last name given for Astrid on, "How to Train Your Dragon" wiki.

Please ignore the periods, FF has a problem with empty space. I didn't like how it looked without the spaces in between scene shifts.

Okay, so quickly, first I want to say that I'm not completely pleased with the chapter. I know that the rescue of the Dervish might seem a little vague, but it wasn't the Dervish I wanted the other tribes to be upset about. It was really just a plot devise to help Hiccup gain the favor of a few more of the other teens before this next chapter. I always want the story to focus mainly on Hiccup and Toothless, so that's why the next chapter is the biggest (maybe not length wise) chapter in this story.

Now, as for the assassin, while I'm not going to give away the last shreds of the plot, his body _is _going to be identified to be belonging to a tribe at the gather. It will not only mean war between the Berkians and whoever sent the assassin, but also a war because Hiccup isn't going to just leave Toothless, who just saved his life (ya know, again). So, major in fighting next chapter. Lost of Vikings going into a mini-war, and I know it doesn't sound violent… but I think it will be.

I am happy with the way Astrid came out in this chapter though. I wanted her to be a sort of hero figure to Ragna, and I think that she is a heroine in her own rights.

The blood on Toothless's claws: He fell into a ravine on the island (which is rather large island) and spent the entire night getting out. The reason will be addressed next chapter.

If the cut-off seems abrupt, please remember I split this chapter in to two pieces.

Now, the cameos:

The woman with the strawberry blonde hair: My ever faithful reviewer Wirewolf. Sorry I couldn't get all your details in, but I lost your PM (… sorry 'bout that) I remembered the hair though!

Ragna, which means advice in Norse, is MeloDenesa, who has been a reviewer since the very early chapters. Thanks so much for you continued ideas!

Pterodactyl: Your idea will actually be in the next chapter… technically the part two of this chapter (sorry I couldn't fit it in this one).

To the anonymous Cedric Bale: Thank you so much for your awesome review of my writing. I appreciate the thoughtfulness.

And yeah, so, again. Not too happy with this chapter, but I hope it's good for all of you. I've been writing for the last six hours and now I am going to sleep. (ugh just fixed two mistakes since posting, woe!)


	11. Spark of Lightning

**Thank you so much for all the reviews! They really encouraged me to keep moving! I'm really nervous about this chapter... I don't think many of you will like it all that much...**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything except my ridiculously large college loan.

**Rating**: Still T, but it's edgy. I would say viewer discretion is advised and warn that this chapter tips between a heavy T and a light M, only for the blood and the language.

All mistakes are my own! Please point them out if you see one! I have no beta now, but I remember them fondly and hope that they are still enjoying the story!

A/NOTE: This is rather important. I am taking some liberties here with the history, but I figure cause there are already _dragons_ running around, that making a few tweaks won't hurt. The tweak I'm mentioning is merely a bond that is formed between a dragon and a human, for whatever reason. Revenge, companionship, convenience, or whatever else have you. I had some trouble with this chapter (hence the lateness of updating). I wanted to make sure I didn't leave any part of the plot dangling, but alas, even though I created the plot, it has some strayed ends… I know I said that this would be the last chapter, but again the plot says no! I've found out that it would take at least 60 pages to get the entire "end chapter" out of the way. So, I guess another two or three more chapters (including epilogue). I'm hoping, just hoping mind you, that I can wrap this up next chapter.

As for the names of the dragons, the ones that were named are given the same names of the book (which I do not own). The Zippleback's names for each head was tough, as I'm sure many people have given them different names. The two I chose (Slither and Tricky) are taken straight from the HTTYD wiki to describe the dragon, so yeah, that's where I got those two names.

And oh, so close to 300 reviews!~

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Chapter 11- Spark of Lightning

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-With Toothless-

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Confusion, noise, and pain. Pain that was so vivid that he could taste the acrid bitterness on his tongue. It exploded all over his body, charged like lightning with the weight of a thunderclap. Yet, thunder had never held danger to him before and lightning was his plaything. He was born of both, thunder and lightning and the night, why should these that made up his self be a threat?

Him, it was all for him. Since the moment that he had locked grass green eyes with those of a darker hue, the creature of lightning had began his downfall. It was wholly unthinkable, that such a beast could feel an attachment to a scrawny being that was not even the same species. It was just as insane, which was what he truly was, to feel at such peace that he drifted to sleep in his presence.

And now, claws slashing shallowly into humans that pressed close on all sides, he could feel the slight body at his side sink to the ground. Panic set in. Was he hurt? Was he dying? Why wouldn't he stand back up?

Toothless reared back and snapped at a large human, well they were _all_ large,-ish for humans anyway, he aimed to only scare the man. Problem was, most Vikings weren't particularly scared of anything, let alone a dragon, something they had hunted and fought against for centuries.

He was a Night Fury! Surely, that ought to have given him an edge in scaring the locals considering the rarity of his breed, but the blood had risen in their little melon-soft heads and they weren't thinking clearly.

If Toothless could still fly, he'd have picked up Hiccup and tried to move the both of them, but honestly if he could fly, would he even be here? If he could still fly by himself, he would have mostly likely taken off all those months ago, the instant he was free of that cursed bola. To think of how drastically his life had changed over such a small thing as being hit by _rope_.

The smell of disturbed earth rose into his flared dished nostrils. It was moist, like the planet had breathed a puffy dark breath over his muzzle. Long furrows slashed open by his claws ruined the field and still the humans pressed closer, edging around the gaping holes that were caused from repeated slashing.

More confusion, more panic, and the queer sound of a battle cry raising up from his left. Toothless raised his black head, aching from screams and screeches of metal upon his claws. His eyes were nearly blinded from blood that dripped, so red it was nearly a charcoal color, down from his forehead.

Those from his human's tribe were now surrounding them, swords drawn, spears raised, clubs held aloft ready to crash down around an unwary person's head. They were forming a barrier, a protective circle around Toothless and the human that was clinging weakly to his side.

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-With Hanhista-

It was difficult, really it was! He could not blame the horse… he would _not_ blame the horse.

The man swatted angrily at a branch, satisfied at the feeling of _hitting_ something before it reached the end of its arc and snapped back violently, whapping him in the face. He hissed in pain and then he hissed again, feeling utterly stupid for not thinking ahead. Of course the damned branch was going to snap back!

The jerk from the shock of a branch whipping his face caused the man to overbalance slightly and stumble backward to trip over a low-lying root. "ARGHHH, ODIN! What on earth have I done to make you so pissed?"

There was no answer, no bolt of thunder to turn him crispy black for even daring to question the God, for some reason that made Hanhista even more angry, "Fine! Don't answer!"

The man grumbled as he picked himself back up, wincing at the feeling on new bruises that littered his back. "Stupid damn roots, stupid damn forest, stupid damn island!"

He would not blame the horse. He would not blame the horse. As long as the blond kept repeating the mantra, it held the frustration at bay.

And of course it wasn't the horse's fault. Dyrr had been nothing but the perfect example of how a horse should behave, how a horse should act. She was brave for her kind and more intelligent by far then those nags that the others kept. But, she was no human, so how could he expect her to handle such an awkward situation?

He wasn't upset that the beast had bucked him, Hel, if he was completely honest with himself, _he'd_ buck too at such a shock. What Hanhista was upset about, was the damn mare had just gone and galloped off, probably back to her stables, with no one who knew how to properly tend to her.

What if she'd cut one of her legs on the hasty retreat back? What if she didn't even make it and broke a leg somewhere? First, it would be such a damn terrible waste of a beautiful horse to have to put her out. Second, there _would_ be heads rolling when he got a hold on those damned children if they spooked her bad enough to break a leg in the first place. And third, he would just be torn up inside to loose such a wonderful horse, she was a product of such careful breeding and not to mention a strong confidant. There was nothing better than to be able to talk to something that couldn't talk back.

He heaved an heavy sigh, one that sounded as though it came from deep inside his soul. The man was tired of trudging, tired of walking, and tired of the aches that he hadn't felt in years. The path wasn't terribly treacherous, unless you counted the damn sneaky trees. Hanhista wasn't incredibly superstitious, he held a healthy fear of his Gods and knew enough about "spirits" to keep himself well enough safe. He'd swear up and down though, that in the darkness of the night the pesky tree spirits would get the urge to move about.

Turning an eye to gaze suspiciously at the nearest tree, Hanhista watched it hard. It was like almost every other tree in the woods, a sugar maple, seemed quiet enough. The blond knew it was a farce though, "I'm on to ye', you just stay right where you are you termite-infested fire fodder."

Perhaps insulting it wasn't the best idea… Hanhista's eyes were drawn awat by the sight of the clearing. Not the Gather Field, all though this had been a site looked at earlier in the season, but just a nice clearing.

The man snarled as he broke free from the prickly and grasping foliage, anger roiling over how incredibly _clumsy_ he felt off of his horse. The sky was like a blanket of black tar, with tiny sparks of light gleaming merrily. 'Well, curses to you too.' Hanhista thought bitterly. What right did they have to be so happy? Damn spirits, damn Gods, damn life.

It might have been the silence, or it might have been the slight breeze, Hel, it might have just been the sense of feeling tiny when one gazes up at stars, but Hanhista felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise.

The man cast a careful glance behind him, eyeing the low-lying plants and the saplings; nothing stirred. Feeling like a fool, he turned his eyes back to the sky, "Look at what this Gather has done to me, jumping at shadows like a child. Scared of the dark-"

Shapes that blocked out the light of the stars and the light of the moon flashed by. Five large shapes… five large _dragon_ shaped shapes…

"Ship-slogged life…" the man cursed. Those _were_ dragons and they were heading toward the Gather field. Like birds that flew somewhere south every year or salmon heading upstream, they were heading unerringly straight. But it wasn't mating season and most dragons didn't migrate.

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-With Toothless-

Perhaps they had gotten lonely, or perhaps that they had finally worked up the courage to use the ability they had to fly, unlike him, to finally follow after their "supposed" humans. Toothless wouldn't lie to them, if they asked what he thought about them. After all, even without being able to fly on his own, he still followed his human, because he was a Night Fury and they protect what was theirs.

Hiccup could go all over and Toothless would follow, because they had a bond. And that bon told Toothless to follow the small squishy human. After all, this human could be killed one hundred different ways before even leaving his house every morning, how would he fair across the ocean?

So, yes, maybe he was a little hard on the others. For they did not have the ability to make a "bond", they had no magic in them, save for the very dredges that made them one step above an overgrown lizard.

It had never happened before, or maybe it had… long ago in the past, but a Night Fury had finally returned to the tradition on a human bond. A bond that only was an agreement between two of similar minds. Hiccup was just like him in many ways, but there were just as many instances they weren't.

It was hard to really pin down what a bond was. It was the agreement that when one couldn't stand, the other would carry them both. When one was in pain, the other would soothe. There were so many definitions that it really came down to what situation they were in when the bond was formed.

Hiccup had saved his life, automatically prompting the beginning of the bond. Thousands of years ago, Vikings would travel to the ends of the earth looking for their dragon bond-partner. It was in the past what had separated them from all the other dust-people. Then they would do all they could to impress their dragon bond-partner. Whether that meant saving their lives or bringing them a worthy jewel.

For Toothless, it had been when the human spared his life when a mistake like the one the dragon had made deserved death. An agile and wily dragon like himself should have suicided at the utter mess he'd made… but he held out, because he sensed the beginning of a bond.

So, no, Toothless wasn't very surprised when the roar of other dragons reached his sensitive ears. He _was_ surprised to see the Dervish they rescued earlier among the flock.

As the forms of the other dragons grew sharper in the torch light, gasps of the Vikings were drawn. More panic, sweet old panic, drove them wild as they fell back into groups. Babbled sounds, their incomprehensible language was hard to follow when they got truly worked up.

Toothless ignored them, their pale faces drained of blood when they realized that the newly arrived dragons were not attacking the Berkians, nor was the tribe making any moves to attack or defend against the dragons.

The great Night Fury snorted at them, **"What took you so long?"** He swung his head around to look at them carefully, baleful green irises sparkling in the light.

Fireworm gave an irritated huff, smoke billowing from her maw as she did so, **"It is difficult to fly so long at night without any updrafts, we only just left yesterday morn'."**

Toothless ignored the excuse, for there was no real valid one to be had. They should have left the same day, if not the day after their humans, none of this week late business.

Horrorcow blinked sluggishly, looking for all the world like she wanted to go to sleep, obviously the long trip had been tough on the Gronckle, for her wings were tiny and she was not a Night Fury like himself.

The Hideous Zippleback, Slither and Tricky respectively bent their heads down low, **"We traveled very fast,"** Slither said before Tricky interrupted, **"Slither almost made us lost, but I kept us going right."**

Slither glared at the other head, **"You were the one that said we should go to the **_**east**_**!" **Tricky cocked his respective head, the eyes growing half-lidded, **"Did I?"**He asked silkily.

Stugur snapped at them, his jaws making a strange clacking sound, **"Enough! It was all of you that slowed me down. I could have been here in a day!"**

Which was quite possible true, Toothless knew that the Nadder was the best suited for long distance flying, of course not as suited as himself.

Last, but not least in any amount of size or bulk, the Dervish sat near them. She sat at such an angle to suggest her wing was still tender, but other than that gave no sign that she was suffering from a blow to the head.

Toothless glared stonily at her, **"Have you lost you mind, or taken complete leave of your senses? Do you know how much our humans risked to get you free?"**

She drew herself back, looking faintly accosted, as though Toothless had called her some terrible name or buffeted her about, **"I do know. I saw these four flying toward the island and stopped to warn them of the Vikings. They would not hear me, saying thinks like "we need to get to our humans" and "why do you pester us, we're in a hurry?"** The sizable female shifted, looking sulky, **"I tried to tell them to leave, that there was nothing for them here and I only just escaped, but when they didn't listen I followed them to try and stop them."**

Toothless sighed, so yes, she was not the most intelligent dragon; but she certainly was brave enough to compensate for the lack of mental prowess. Her bulk was enough to help keep the other tribes back and re-thinking their plans to attack.

The humans were growing restless again though, he could see them shifting their weight from eager foot to other eager foot. It wouldn't be too much longer now, before the least patient one broke ranks to rush the tribe.

"Stugur, why are you here?" Astrid nearly dropped her axe in shock, before she leapt over to the dragon's side in one bound.

"Slither and Tricky!" Tuffnut went running up to Slither, hugging the head to his side and petting it with great care. Ruffnut walked languidly up to Tricky, no less happy to see her respective half of the dragon. He lowered his head enough to get his ear ridges scratched, prummning the entire time.

"Horrorcow?" Fishlegs was delighted to see his Gronckle again. The sleepy beast managed to stir herself for his hugs and accepted the pleasant pats.

"Fireworm, you're here!" Snotlout took a running leap at his large Nightmare. She purred and growled in a low pleased fashion, using her head to catch the falling human and sank back to her haunches to hold him in her clawed hands.

As Toothless observed, it was definitely that Snotlout boy that was the most overjoyed to see his dragon. The dragon trainees had joined up in the task of protecting Hiccup and the Night Fury even if the rest of Berk hadn't jumped in. They all rushed to the sides of their dragons, each petting the smooth scales or nuzzling the snouts with soft coos.

Toothless quite possibly might have been touched, if it weren't for the fact _his_ human was lying on the ground, groaning weakly and loosing precious life-spirit.

With a snarl, the black dragon lashed the ground angrily, capturing the attention of Stoick, who'd been having a stare-down with the person directly across from him. It was an epic battle, full of eyebrow raises, fully-heated glares, and lip curling to indicate mutual disgust for each other; but Stoick was most certainly winning. He'd had plenty of time to perfect his "I'm-verily-disappointed" glare.

Even with the confusion, some might wonder as to whether a father could forget his son was the target of an assassin and still hadn't received medical attention. And in all honest, Stoick hadn't necessarily _forgotten_ his son's plight. But, with the rush of frenzied Vikings, all men and women that he'd hours ago been happily sharing pleasant ale with, attacking him in their confusion, his main worry was keeping them _all_ alive.

Now, his attention was dragged back to his son. Oh Odin, his poor little boy. Not really a boy anymore now though, eh? He'd been up and down the washboard a few times, what with the dragon queen and her right vileness. And now to be nearly murdered during a time when there should be peace and relaxing. So much for merrymaking.

Toothless gave another irritated snarl, this one accompanied by his lips lifting off from his teeth, their dull surface gleamed especially bright in the flickering light of the fires and torches.

"I get it, ya' great beastie. I was going to be taking care of him either way, now quit yer snarlin'."

Despite his blasé attitude, Stoick was growing worried, his son was growing more unresponsive as he lied in the torn up grass and dirt.

With the arrival of five dragons… strange since the large man was sure that the fifth dragon, the Dervish, was the one currently locked up in the arena…

After a shake of his head, the burly leader knelt down beside his son's side. "Hiccup? Son, can you hear me?"

Toothless cocked his head as the boy groaned in pain, the deep green irises were bright with pain.

Beside him, the Dervish leaned her long neck over, her head hovering near his human's prone body. **"This is the boy that helped me leave, no?"**

"**Get. Your. Head. Back!"**

So, yes, okay; maybe Toothless was getting a bit testy. He had full rights to that anger that was coursing through him, damn humans always jumping like little crunchy grasshoppers to their conclusions.

The Dervish pulled her head back so fast, that the coal-dark dragon heard a creak, but he didn't relent the glare he leveled at her.

Before he could respond, the deep echoing voice of Stoick reached out across the field where the fidgeting Vikings were still standing. Toothless was rather surprised they hadn't attacked yet. After all, their minds were already set that the Berkians were traitors to their brethren and never hesitated in the past to go after a group of dragons.

There were also many, many more Vikings than there were of dragons and Berkians, so the hesitation must have stemmed from their own distaste at a civil war in the middle of a traditional peaceful Gather.

Would a fight during a Gather upset Odin and the other gods? Would Hel raise up herself and cast them into the misty underworld? It had been many, many years since the last Viking civil war; one that broke out across many tribes. There used to be over one hundred different tribes, but now there was only twelve.

The question that the leader asked was rather simple. Could they set down the weapons -_both_ sides- and simply talk for five minutes? Perhaps a some medical attention from the Gyoja to see to Hiccup's wounds? Surely, he was injured by someone, rather it was an assassination attempt or not.

Vikings were not good on the whole "talking it out" thing. But the situation was wholly unique, even Toothless could glean that. Watching and soaking in every little twitch of nerves the other humans gave off.

There was whispering, so much whispering, 'why do the dragons not attack?', 'who would try and assassinate an heir at a gather?', 'Why don't we just overpower them, they are traitors?"

Shield, despite understanding the whispers, could not wholly stand against the outrage that sang through his blood. After all, this was his _family_, one of which was at the very least attacked. And now, he was supposed to lead a Gather full of people against his own brother's tribe? For the sake of his kin and blood, he nodded a heavy head to the five minutes of truce.

The red-haired man hoped that it would give both sides time to settle and that the five minutes would gradually slide into longer moments as both groups would begin to work out what happened.

Although it was avoided when possible, the Vikings could put their mind to a task. They pondered things deeply and for a long while. For some reason, this bore the impression that they were stupid, or couldn't comprehend things as fast as other nations. When in reality, why would one want to think about something, when one would spend hours pulling it through their brain? Why one thought alone could take up the better part of a day!

Shield shrugged off that thought before it could truly get going and motioned vaguely over the crowd, "where be the Gyoja?"

Several women swept forward, swords now sheathed, but still visible at their hips. All of them gathered close to the large man. They didn't need to be told what was being asked of them, their eyes were bright with knowledge and wisdom. Shield bowed his head slightly and watched in silence as the group began to pick their way over. He followed sedately behind, watching as hide-covered feet picked their way over the dew covered dirt and grass.

They hovered feet away from the first line of Berkians, watching as the crowd surged forward briefly before splitting neatly down the center to let the women through. The more reverent of the Berkians went so far as to slightly bow before them. Not because they were particularly special themselves, but these women held connections to the after-life and no one wanted to be disrespectful.

Shield finally reached the end of the walk to where his nephew was lying. He felt worry sweep over him, as he took in the wounds himself. They looked painful for such a small lad and a look at his tense brother spoke volumes for the man's worry.

Shield twisted a hand into a fist feeling helpless as the women drew closer to the prone body, but with a flash of shimmering black, that beast was standing there.

He looked like every picture painted of black evil spirits. With his gleaming eyes, a color that seemed unnatural for any creature. He was black as the night sky all solid through and through. This was the infamous Night Fury. A creature born of the union between lightning and thunder and the night.

The beast snapped and snarled a warning as the women came closer, torn between protecting the lad and wanting them to remain back. In the end, he allowed them to approach, but his lips stayed curled back, showing impressive fangs.

"Stoick, my brother…"

From his side, his brother heaved a sigh, "Yes?"

Shield blithely waved about his hand, unsure of how to broach the subject, "You really need to explain all of this," he gestured vaguely toward the dragons, "to all of us," another round of waving only more centered toward the wide-eyed Vikings.

"This," Stoick smiled and pointed toward Hiccup, "is all because of him."

Shield hated to say it, but he was incredibly confused.

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-With Ragna-

Ragna wasn't sure what awakened her that night. It could have been that fact that the temperature was dropping as the season progressed into the colder months, though the island tribe never really felt the true brunt of cold. It also might have been the unearthly shrieks that were resounding outside the rough-hewn cabin that she lived in.

It had been a while since she'd heard such noises, for they were only made by a dragon that was in agony or true anger. The shrieks chilled her, but she had long ago started the process of denying that anything truly scared her; so she pushed the sudden swelling of fear away.

She dressed quickly, flicking brown hair out of her face, cheeks that were still a little chubby from the childhood she was starting to leave behind flushed with excitement. Something was going on, something that was big, or something that was important, or something that was both!

As a rule, children weren't allowed to technically participate in dragon slaying. It was something they were allowed to observe, but best left up to dragon trainees and adults. Ragna was neither, but aspired to make her parents happy and what made them happy was to be a good dragon-slayer.

The cabin that she lived in wasn't as nice as the tribe leader Shield, but she was told by her mom that it was okay for him to live in a nicer cabin, because without him they wouldn't be half as fierce.

She had been told as a kid that it was because Stoick and Shield's father was a fearsome man; twice as large as Stoick the Vast and several times more wise. He was a man that was made to seem like he was sprung from the seed of Odin. Whatever seed was exactly, Ragna wasn't sure; but she like to imagine a man as huge as a Nightmare being planted as a seed into the ground and springing out like the giant ash tree Yggdrasil. No one was sure why the youngest son didn't have the red hair that was colored brighter than a forest fire, why his hair was dark like the night. But, she knew never to question the loyalty the brothers all had for one another; true to one another no matter what.

So, when Ragna entered the main living space she saw the fire had burned out in the hearth, but the stones were still glowing with heat. It was strange, her mother was very attentive when it came to keeping the hearth fire burning, the elder woman was suspicious and superstitious by nature. It was bad luck to allow the hearth fire to completely die.

A gust of wind drew her attention up, to see her mother standing in the threshold, one hand gripping the doorjamb tight.

"Mother?"

The stocky woman turned slowly, her eyes never leaving what lied beyond the door.

"Hmm?"

"What's going on? Where's father?"

For a long moment there was nothing, then for the first time since Ragna appeared, her mother turned to look at her.

"There be something happening, but I wouldn't be worrying… too much." Her voice trailed off as though she were uncertain of that fact.

Ragna looked after her mother questioningly, her eyes drawing in the sight of slight wrinkles that only creased when the elder was deep in thought.

"Can I go outside and see?"

Again there was silence, though it was tense, Ragna could see her mother thinking it over, "I suppose so, but it looks a bit rowdy. You be best to not stain your coat, you know it holds the spirit of your grandmother in it."

Though her mother said it, Ragna had never really heard her granny speak to her through the coat, nor did she think that her mom was correct that the spirit resided in the coat. And if mom didn't want her to get the coat dirty, why had she been given it anyway?

"I won't get it dirty," Ragna paused for a second with her head cocked, "Did you hear a dragon earlier?"

Her mother's full-ish mouth was pressed into a pale thin line, "Be careful."

"Why aren't you going outside?"

The older woman looked bitterly out the door than down at her false leg, "Old war wound is giving me pain, get along now."

Ranga didn't need to be told twice, her interest in the event outside peaked. Just as she was passing through the wooden doorway, passed the sweet stale scent of the flowers her mom pressed into the rough clothes, she paused again.

"Mom?"

"What?"

"If Dad asks where I was earlier tonight, tell him that I was at the Gather Field."

Her mother hummed at her, not really hearing her for the elder didn't ask why the girl had been out of her bed at such a time of the night.

The young girl thought cheerfully that would be the perfect cover. She didn't know that place was the scene of a very serious crime, an assassination attempt on an heir, nor that by saying she had been there would make her a witness.

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-General POV-

It took a while, but eventually most of the Vikings were persuaded to set down their weapons -or at least lower them- long enough to hear Stoick's story. It was incredibly unlikely, after all, this was Hiccup they were talking about for pity's sake. Yet, there was no refuting the Night Fury that stood guard like a scaled overgrown nursemaid, nor was there any other answer as to why the dragons stood beside their respective riders, perfectly well-mannered and not so much as twitching toward a sheep.

It was strange, now, to see all the leaders of each tribe standing in the center. Their heads were all bowed in deep discussion.

"It's obvious what's to be done," Balli huffed, flipping some of his limp black hair from his face. "The Berkians," he spat the name with disgust, as though the tribe was a poisonous snake, "have shamed us Vikings by being so… so not-Viking!"

Raobaror blinked slowly, his blue eyes soft as he pulled a sort-of braid through his long fingers, "It is very interesting. You say they can be tamed? To listen? It is most impressive for your son to handle such a task." The man sighed wistfully, "If only Tryggr had as much incentive, perhaps he wouldn't be so lazy…" the man trailed off, the thought had taken root and Shield knew the contemplative man would not be resurfacing from his plots for a while.

Banki glanced over at his brother before heaving a sigh, "They are but children. We all know how they can be," the man glanced around looking for confirmation, but receiving it only from a few other leaders. "There should be repercussions, finding the Queen's nest was information all of the tribes could have used."

Stoick hummed at this, "Why by Njoror's great sea would I bring you all such information, when I knew it would be like this? Did ya' expect me to trot on up like a pup and say 'Lookie at my son? He just killed the Queen Dragon and single handedly tamed a Night Fury? Not only that, but now we Berkians live in peace with dragons that we hunt?"

Vakr shrugged, he looked uncomfortable amongst all the talk. "I feel this to be a good thing. They are similar to falcons and hawks, they would be most invaluable if what you say is true…"

Though the tawny haired man was not outright calling Stoick a liar, it was hard to believe such a tale even with evidence right in front of their eyes, he was not outright ready to believe the Berkians. A dragon the size of an island? Such a thing could not be possible!

Geilrir was mostly apprehensive about the whole matter. He tilted his head left and right, trying to puzzle through the positive and the negative things that would come about from having dragons about. Them man never really seemed to say much, but his words held weight.

Grimi just plowed on through, "I don't see why we're even having this conversation, I agree with Balli. Obviously being so far North has frozen the brains of this tribe. How could a dragon and a human get along at all?

This statement caused Raobaror to look up from his thoughts and glare. His tribe was founded on the very premise that while you didn't need to be chummy, dragons and humans could interact.

Eior snorted, "Just kill them all. Dear Odin, what are we eight? There are more of us then there are of them and really, look at our numbers, we won't be losing that many."

Shield looked faintly sick at the idea of destroying an _entire_ tribe. Yes, he was a Viking, he destroyed random villages every so often when he went for the raiding season, but this wasn't just some tribe. This was a tribe of Vikings, people that they knew and had been celebrating with for many, many years.

Gaggar was paying little attention, his focused eyes were following the movement of the dragons with rapt attention. He hated dragons with a passion, though for no particular reason outside of general dislike. "I don't like 'em, I say we kill the dragons at the very least…"

Adalvadar blinked, his own gaze was on the dragons as well, but his look was one of contemplation. "They could be very useful, no? He looked at Shield as he posed the question.

Shield was struggling, he didn't want to appear biased toward his brother's clan, but it was hard to listen to such a story, see the dragons as clear as day, and still say that there was no merit what-so-ever.

It was even more tough, the idea that dragons and Vikings could co-exist was going against hundreds of years of killing and fighting. It was like you could simply pull a gate shut down on the feelings of dislike and hatred that had been cultured into every Viking.

Stoick didn't want to intrude, considering that the whole conversation right now was deciding the fate of his village, but he wanted to at least address the other situation that in his eyes, held as much importance.

"Not to be trying to change the subject, but there is still the question of who sent him," a thick finger jabbed in the direction of the corpse."

Shield sighed and massaged his temples. He was just about to open his mouth to speak when a very irritated Hanhista appeared at the edge of the field. Hmm, the Leader-Host had been wondering what happened to the man, considering he was usually in the thick of altercations, happy to lend a hand.

At the moment, he seemed to be quite intent on passing the whole lot of them and continuing on toward his house, no doubt to sleep.

"Hanhista?"

The blond winced, pausing in mid-step. The younger man took one longing look in the direction of where his house was situated before grumbling to himself and stomping over.

"_What?"_

"Do I have something to tell you…"

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-End Of Chapter-

Okay, so that was the end of this chapter… I hope it wasn't too terribly bad. The next chapter should be the discovery of who sent the assassin. Some more fighting over the discovery and the final choice of the tribes. Also, showcasing in the next chapter, will be the DTG, their dragons, and the whole group of heirs make their alliances! Again, all mistakes are mine. Please be kind in pointing them out and I'll get to changing them right away!


	12. Cleansing Downpour

-creeps in- Sorry for the long wait… not much to say for this chapter, other than I give up trying to predict when this story is going to end. I've tried and tried to keep to what I have written out, but along the way I get to thinking, hmmm this reviewer had such a great idea or I could use that scenario for this! First though, before we get back to the story, I shout-out for all my reviewers! Also, for this chapter if you review, please feel free to ask any questions that you want answered about the story.

**A/n: **There isn't much new information about Vikings that people shouldn't already know, but random trivia might be popped in somewhere in this chapter.

**Disclaimer**: I still don't own the rights, but hey that's alright, Dreamworks is doing a way better job at making movies anyway ^^. The book rights, of course, belong to Cressida Cowell. -squeee- Okay, I got out all my fan girl!

**Rating: High-End T**

**Extra note**: Did you guys know, that this was supposed to be a two-shot? No! I'm serious! Go back and read the first chapter's intro! Also, the scene where there is a vote taken? Yeah, that scene is inspired from Clan of the Cave Bear, which I own NO rights to. I wish I could write that well.

**WARNING:****There is an extensive look at what child neglect can do to a child in this**

**chapter. There is a POV moment from Gallin who is mute and believed to be an**

**Animal. Though he is sweet, he is not an animal, and certainly not stupid; he has had no schooling, nor has any effort been made by his tribe to educate him. While there is no graphic mentions of abuse, only indications of it, reader discretion is advised. This may be hard for some to read, or sad, you can skip his POV and not loose anything from the story plot. This is not typical of all people. I've studied some psych studies, but I honestly have no idea, so this is not meant to offend.**

**Inquisitor0**: Yes, sorry for such a slow moving last chapter and thank you for the great idea on future explosives! I definitely think that since dragons DO breathe fireballs, that your thought is valid. I'm afraid this chapter might be a little slow too.

**Ihni**: I know, I find that I'm a little jealous of Hiccup and wanted him to suffer a bit. On a more rational note, I don't think anyone would have treated Hiccup without a truce being called first.

Cedric Bale: Man or lady, but I think man considering the name… I don't care! I love you bunches for your great and though-provoking reviews! No, you hit the nail on the head about the bond, it is strictly a Night-Fury only thing, and there is a caste system in my mind, my real only evidence being from the movie where Toothless snarling at the Terrors. This could be normal protective behavior, but I feel there was also some pride and other factors.

**HiAndromon**: I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy that part about the last chapter. I wasn't trying to cheapen the original story. Night Furies and humans I'm sure have been around for many years before Vikings ever became a culture, I'm almost positive somewhere some would have interacted with a human. Perhaps I shouldn't have put in "Vikings" and kept it just as "humans". I'm sorry about it though, and hope it doesn't disuade you from reading further.

**MeloDenesa: **Thank you so much for all your ideas, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Now, I know I didn't put down everyone's review, but I do appreciate every one of them and tried to send messages back to anyone that had an account for me to send it to. The reviewers from above are people who asked questions that I felt should be answered, so thank you once again for all your patience -yes, I'm talking to you. Yes, YOU! And no I'm not just saying that, I know you know I'm talking to you!

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Chapter 12: Cleansing Downpour

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"What? No, really, what did you just say?" Hanhista's eyes were wide in shock and confusion, as well as disbelief, colored his features.

Shield scuffed a booted foot in the loam under his soles. In hindsight, it was a rather unbecoming gesture for a normally rather-composed leader, but the entire situation was something that the red-haired man had never heard of happening before, let alone generations ago.

"I told ye' exactly what Stoick told me. As stone-stupid as it sounds, Stoick has never lied to me, not to his older brother and I have really no other option than to believe him; the evidence is right there!" The man threw out an arm, the thickness the size of a well-developed tree trunk, pointing to the practically spitting Night Fury. An apt name if the man didn't say so himself, black as night and certainly breath-taking while in a fury.

Hanhista ran a hand through his greasy limp hair, his face contorting into a look of disgust as he realized how much muck, sweat, and dirt he'd been through today. "So you," he pointed a finger at the huge barreled chest, "are telling me," the long finger curled to indicate it's owner, "that boy over there not only _found_ the Queen's lair, but _killed _her!" Despite his best attempt, Hanhista's voice broke in shock.

Shield didn't answer, but he leveled a cold glare at Hanhista, a man whom he put much stock in, for the blonds' answers were usually very well thought-out. The leader couldn't be too upset with Hanhista though, this situation was startling and mind-boggling enough to make him want smash a tree in…with his face.

Hanhista heaved a sigh and scrubbed at his face with calloused hands. He hadn't wanted to deal with this when he got back. All he'd wanted to do was go check on his horse, then collapse in his bed and sleep all night. The blond's face hardened none-the-less. Enough whining then, like a little maiden girl who couldn't decide between raspberry leaf tea or mint, because both are just so tasty!

Straightening his spine, the man nodded to himself, it was time he started earning his keep as being a confidant for the leader. Hanhista gave Shield a long searching look. "I wouldn't want to give of the impression that I know better than my Chief," he started carefully, "I know you hold some value to what I say, so I will first start by asking, what is it that you think of this?"

Shield sucked in a deep breath, billowing out his chest even more, "M'pissed, how could my own brother not have informed me about all this taking place? Why didn't he mention he'd found the dragon's lair, it would have taken nuthin' but a few days for a hawk to send a message! And this whole dragon business? Not even Hel would know what to do! Honest to Odin, I must not be praying hard enough to have such an event just plumb sprout up like a gully spirit at my Gather! A disgrace! Bah!"

Hanhista remained quiet, his blue eyes intense as he watched his leader begin to pace. This, this outburst and the following pacing, was not an unusual event. While not usually so fervent, the blond knew he was like a cave to echo back Shield's thoughts. And echo back he would, with as little distortion to the message as possible.

"What could have been the reason your brother would not have sent a message?" Hanhista posed his question carefully, eyes lowered and voice soft.

Shield threw up his huge hands, "Skewered if I know! Unless…"

Hanhista raised an eyebrow, "Unless?"

"Unless the dragons were too close and they had to act swiftly… yes! My brother must have been hard pressed and sailed out as soon as he could, no time for him to even send a message. For what was to stop the dragons from leaving their lair?"

'_I assume the Queen, who from what you told me, was as large as an Island. Must be a damn pain in the ass to have to fly at that size," _Hanhista gave a mental snort, but said nothing of the sort out loud.

Shield ran one beefy hand through his own hair, "Han, lad, though you're younger, you've always been wise. While I know I'm great at dragon-hunting," from across the clearing several dragons let out shrieks of anger at the mention of the killing and Shield shot them a glare, "I'm not so great at making such quick decisions."

Hanhista frowned at this statement. While Shield wasn't lying about not being a person to make snap-decisions off the battlefield, he was as quick-witted as a striking snake, the man took his time making decisions that would affect his tribe. The man must be shaken up to decide that he had less wisdom than Hanhista. For a long moment, Hanhista was quiet before nodding his head, "Shield, my friend, you've known me since I was just a child. Though I think you're trading yourself short, I will attempt to give you the best answer I can.

It was like a weight lifted just a little bit from Shield and Hanhista was pleased to ease his leader's burden if only a little.

"From what I am hearing, the village of Berk should be commended on their actions against the Queen dragon. Killing her was a hard and amazing feat. While there is no solid proof that there was a Queen ever to begin with, I can see the after-effects of her control being broken. Solitary dragons, or ones that we know by nature should be solitary, are sleeping in packed dens with other breeds of dragons that they normally would not share. Less and less coordinated attacks have been leveled against our village, and you can bet noble Odin that the amount of what HAS been raided by dragons is significantly lower than it was a few months ago," Hanhista paused, one eye squinting as he thought about the rest of his answer.

"If it were not for the dragons, and their supposed arrangement of living, we would not be having this conversation right now. It is unnatural to think that Berkians could ignore their very instincts in the matter of dragons, and even more amazing the dragons themselves are able to live alongside humans! For there has been several humans that have disappeared down a dragons throat."

The blond twitched nervously and uncomfortably as Shield stared at him intently, listening to each and every word carefully. This was the most Hanhista had ever spoken in one setting and it was bothering him that he was speaking so much.

"Dragons, if they can truly be tamed down, I feel could be an amazing asset in aiding us against future raids to faraway land. To have that kind of power alongside would help us strike even greater fear into any that wish to have a go-around. But it is hard to set aside what dragons have done to us, but I feel that the Berkians are not to be blamed for making the best of the situation."

Shield digested what Hanhista said, feeling so torn up inside, it felt worse than any battle wound he'd ever gotten. To send three hundred men, women, and children of Viking blood to their death for doing exactly as Hanhista had just said, making the best of a situation. But the dragons continued to live with them after the battle with the queen.

Hanhista seemed to glimpse into Shield's mind, "what is the saying, Chief? Break bread with your friends, but feast with those that want you dead?"

"You believe they were keeping the dragons close to keep an eye on them?"

Hanhista smiled, "I believe that is what you would have done, my chief."

Shield gave a bitter smile back, '_No, my friend. My brother has one thing I don't have. A son as crazy as Hiccup.'_

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~With Gudrek~

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The deliberation for the fate of Berk and their respective lives was debated early in to the approaching dawn. People were confused and upset, never a particularly stunning mix when it came to Vikings.

Inside a shoddy, but suitable clean cabin, were several miserable teenagers. All as upset and annoyed as the rest of the Vikings.

Gudrek was sitting as near to Hiccup's body as he dared, for a long and thick tail was swishing violently whenever anyone so much as twitched in the direction of his cousin. Frankly, if the boy were willing to admit it, Gudrek hesitated to approach his cousin because, well, there was a dragon -a _NIGHT FURY- _sitting like an overgrown mother hen protecting a human… a human!

He blinked owlishly, acorn brown irises trained on the smooth black hide, gleaming scales, and ferociously wicked teeth. Who would have thought his cousin could have tamed such a violent beast? To be the first Viking in practically forever to see a Night Fury, to _live_ after seeing a Night Fury.

The blonde girl, Astrid, was curled up near Hiccup as well. Close enough to reach out and slowly pet limp auburn hair, always slowly for Toothless -was that the name of the great beast?- was also running out of patience on this night.

Gudrek observed each and every person huddled in the room. His older cousin Snotlout, the nervous, and frankly a bit book-ish, Fishlegs. On the right side of the room, the twins sat, close to Hiccup but also close enough to the door for two long necked dragons to peek in and rest on either side of the twins. There simply wasn't enough room for all the dragons to fit inside the hut, and Gudrek was thankful to Odin for such a small favor. Dragons! Living with Vikings! What was the world coming to? Gudrek noticed his sister's hair as a beam of moonlight shimmered off the strands.

His eyes narrowed at her. Her strange behavior had been raising many questions within him lately. After all, as her older brother it was his job to raise her up to be able to handle herself and any person that got in her way. She had taken to her lessons like a baby duck to water, following his tips perfectly and proving to be perfectly vicious to keep people at bay, just the way it was supposed to be.

Lately though, within the last few days actually… she had lost that aggressive edge that earlier in the week you could have tasted it was so tangible. Her eyes gleamed with an unspeakable joy, which also worried Gudrek, it was never good when any female got such a look in her eyes. She had a secretive air about her, quiet and at peace with herself. As much as it pained Gudrek to see her so open, he was also privately -very deep down- glad that she was so cheerful, after all, he was a brother, how could he not be pleased with his younger sister being happy?

She wouldn't tell him what it was that made her glow like a little ball of sun, nor what caused her to trail at their cousin's heels, again like a little duckling waddling after it's mother. Gudrek was annoyed by her behavior and was planning on talking to her tonight, but now, as he saw her pale and stricken face in the gloomy light, he sighed instead and watched Hiccup's narrow chest rise and fall.

Gudrek tossed his head, flicking a lanky strand of pitch-dark hair from his eyes, he froze like a spooked deer when that head, rather like a salamander's, shot from it's position near Hiccup's chest to stare with inhuman eerie eyes. Eyes that held the promise of death and flickered with the hot heat of rage. Only, the rage didn't glow _red_, no, the eyes were like blazing green flames, flashing like daggers. Oh dear merciful Odin, the dragon was pissed. Gudrek slowly sank back away, but Astrid murmured something to the dragon, one black ear flicking in her direction to listen.

Slowly, every so slowly, the dragon relaxed a little, remembering that though the scared teen in front of him teased his human mercilessly, he also was the boy that saved Hiccup's life, which was not to be taken for granted.

Gudrek breathed carefully, his eyes flicking all around in fear. The brown walls of the hut felt like they were more snug then before, the heat from the fire in the hearth was more stifling, but the young man didn't dare dart out the rough-hewn door, it meant cutting in front of the Night Fury's head.

The dirt floor was cold and hard, but this was the place that all those involved in the fiasco of the night were to be kept. It was too hard to keep all the Berkians locked up in one place, but from what Gudrek had seen before he was herded away, they had all gathered together defensively, hard eyes and grim faces.

Shifting with both restlessness and sheer discomfort -the nights were always so cold- Gudrek turned his gaze on the last few people of the room. His uncle Stoick was of course beside himself over the events. Not in a simpering, woe-is-I kind of way, but most certainly I-need-a-large-mug-of-ale kind of way. He sat at rough-sanded pine chair over a high table. His large shoulders were slightly hunched, as though the combined weight of every person in his tribe was resting upon him.

Who knew where his long-time friend Gobber the Belch was? Most likely a go-between for the tribe and those waiting in the hut. Stoick didn't necessarily need to be in here with the teens, but chose to. Gudrek nodded silently at the choice, family was the most important…

Family was the most important… that one line had rang through the buff boy's mind. It had been what fueled his body up the slight hill and to full out punch that slime-covered bucket of bilge water not fit for washing a pig's ass. Family was the most important had been the mantra that Gudrek had repeated to himself when he first heard Hiccup's screams.

They were not screams from a scuffle between Hiccup and other Heirs, not screams from being scared of the dark, or the goblin in the shadows of the stairwell, not wasps that got caught up in the rake-thin boy's auburn hair. The screams that Gudrek had heard were _real_ screams. Screams filled with true panic, true morbid pain, screams filled with a real fear that death was imminent.

Despite the dislike and general annoyance that Hiccup sparked within Gudrek, _**family was everything, without family there is nothing,**_so he had charged recklessly.

The last person in the room, if you could call him that, was that little brat named Gallin. A little wild forest boy that should have been left in the woods after his animal tendencies showed. Though, Gallin's father barely passed for a human being himself, it wasn't such a surprise the boy looked like a beast turned boy.

Even now, the small thin boy was crawling closer to Toothless and Hiccup on his hands and knees, what on Odin's Earth was the boy doing?

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~ With Gallin~

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Gallin was not being bad. No, Gallin was only wanting to be close to kind Hiccup and beautiful, mystifying dragon. Kind nice people, who were the first to try to communicate with Gallin.

Gallin wrinkled his nose as he sidled up near Toothless, who stirred restlessly. 'Be calm, sweet pretty dragon, Gallin means no harm!' was what Gallin wish he could say. But Gallin could not speak like nice Hiccup, who could speak so well and gently, Gallin could not speak at all!

Gallin hung his head slightly. Gallin was bad! Gallin was lucky to be living cause dad -no, Leader Gaggar- said so, such a powerful voice, a strong voice that was good for leaders.

Even Gallin's own mom stayed away from Gallin! How was Gallin to be learning to be good if Gallin was not to be taught? The skinny boy settled down inches from Toothless and Hiccup, skeletal hands rubbing over gaunt limbs, fingers brushing new and old bruises. Gallin deserved them though, after all, Gallin was such a burden upon his tribe, it was only fitting that Gallin be punished.

Gallin titled his head, his unnatural blue eyes sweeping over Hiccup. Kind Hiccup said that Gallin was not stupid at all! Nor was Gallin a bad, half-animal half-boy. Gallin was a good boy and a good Viking! Joy and warmth blossomed in the small boy's heart. Maybe if good Hiccup believed that Gallin was a good boy, others would believe it too? Maybe even… maybe even Gallin's dad -no, bad Gallin, it is Leader Gaggar- could someday see Gallin?

Reaching out with bony fingers, the black-haired child began to draw little figures in the dirt near his wriggling toes. Gallin had no shoes now, they were taken away. Gallin's hand's stilled for a moment before they continued to draw circles. Gallin deserved that to, didn't Gallin? He had gotten holes in them, from his fast trotting over the grounds on the island. Gallin was proud of his speed, the only thing Gallin was useful for really. Mom had been upset, and Leader Gaggar got even more upset that she was yelling, but oh to be able to make such clear speech.

Leader Gaggar was right for taking away Gallin shoes, Gallin should have take better care of them. Ignoring the lack of shoes, Gallin scooted the last inch left until the warmth of Toothless and Hiccup spread over Gallin.

'This is nice,' Gallin thought lucidly, 'Gallin likes warmth.' Even more so, the boy liked the warmth inside his soul. Gallin was not stupid, but what was the harm in letting others think it? It was easier that way…

Toothless settled carefully, allowing the child to come closer. The battle lust was wearing off now, slowly seeping away into the ground like blood spilled across sand. The small child meant no harm, and the warmth would help his human Hiccup. The dragon nudged the small boy gently, showing his approval. He raised his face and looked meaning fully at Astrid, who nodded back. "Guy, we can move closer now."

Tuffnut gave Slither one loving pat, though he'd vehemently protest to holding such a sappy emotion, while Ruffnut leaned down and brushed her cheek against Tricky's. She picked her way over and sat down near Astrid, leaning against the other girl, both of them sharing comfort from one another's touch. Tuffnut crouched near Hiccup's side, sighing as he looked over the new wounds, "Maybe we should just wrap him up in leather padding."

Snotlout snorted as he remained where he was, sprawled out near Hiccup's feet, "Naw, ol' klutz here will probably get it caught up and end up, I don't know, running head first into a pit of snarling wolves."

There was the pattering of soft laughs as some of the tension broke.

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~Early Morning~

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Astrid was leaning against Ruffnut, both seeking mutual comfort while Hiccup continued to rest. Tuffnut had put up a fuss about wanting to see a Gyoja when Hiccup's wound began to bleed again during the night.

The senior gyoja had just left, after she'd calmly closed the wound and re-bound it more tightly this time. She'd instructed Snotlout to sit on one side of his cousin, to hold the boy down if he thrashed in his sleep.

Gallin had fallen asleep leaning against Toothless's unoccupied side, Swanwhite was nearby, hair that gleamed in the waning fire light spilled out over her brother's lap as she rested her head on his thigh. Gudrek himself had his head tipped back as he dozed, the early hours of the morning winning the battle he waged against sleep.

Fishlegs was tapping a finger against the dirt, twitching every so often when he heard particularly emboldened cries from outside the hut they were all gathered in. At his side was his side pack, filled with a few books and pencils, as well as dried edible mushrooms, small crunchy apples, and hard sharp cheese.

Ruffnut hummed to herself as she shifted slightly, "I just don't understand it…"

Tuffnut, keeping vigil near the door, turned towards her, an eyebrow raised.

Astrid nudged Ruffnut with her elbow, "What do you mean?"

"Well, why would someone want to kill Hiccup?"

Astrid frowned and looked at the other members of their group. "I-I don't know, until today, the other tribes didn't know that Hiccup had killed the Queen Dragon." Her face turned pensive as she digested the question, _'Why _did_ someone try to kill Hiccup?"_

Snotlout made a face, "Why not ask Gudrek? He was there when the guy was killed, do you think he heard anything?" Even as he asked the question, he already leaned over and knocked on Gudrek's booted heel. "Oy' 'Drek."

The boy, to his credit, did not jolt into wakefulness, but he cast a fierce glare at his burly cousin. "Don't be so casual to me, we're cousins but this whole boatload of shit doesn't make us _buddies_."

Tuffnut snorted, "_Someone _isn't a morning person."

Gudrek gave the blond boy a withering dry look, "_Someone_ shouldn't even be here, if Hiccup wasn't pissing people off all across Joro's beautiful Earth."

Fishlegs snapped to attention, "wait, what do you mean pissing people off?"

"What do you mean, what do I mean? Honestly, you guys have only been close to him, what, one or two years? Certainly not from the last Gather would anyone guess that you were all chums! Hiccup just has something… off I guess about him. People either like him or they really hate him."

Astrid looked straight at Gudrek, "Did the assassin say anything about why he was attacking Hiccup? What happened between all of us is in the past and while we were not friendly to Hiccup, we never would have wanted him _dead_."

A derisive snort was all the brown eyed boy gave her, "Whatever you guys say. He said something to Hiccup before I punched him, but I was too far away to hear what."

Both girls looked at one another, "It just doesn't add up!" Ruffnut exclaimed.

Snotlout shrugged, "What's so hard to believe? He is an heir…" the teen trailed off.

"That's what the problem is, even if Hiccup is killed, you'd be the next in line for it, or your father. Leadership of a tribe is passed down through the male and female children of the current leader, not over whose the best Viking." Astrid shook her head, "No one would gain anything by killing him."

Tuffnut shook his head, "That's not exactly true, maybe someone didn't want him as a leader for the tribe? By killing him, Stoick would be forced to either re-marry and have another heir, with no guarantee that kid would live, and Stoick might not be able to raise the kid till he was old enough to lead. So even if someone stepped in to be the temporary leader, they would have to give it back when that kid was old enough."

Snotlout gaped at Tuffnut, who took on an innocent face, "_What?"_

Snotlout shrugged, "That was actually smart."

Ruffnut began to giggle and the others smiled, "Hey," Tuffnut exclaimed, "I can be smart too!"

Astrid sobered, her eyes lowering back to Hiccup's pale face, "What if the person tries again? Beside you and Gudrek, there wasn't anyone else to see the assassin. What if no one believes us?"

Fishlegs sighed, "After the last time they didn't believe us, we had to bail them out of some pretty rocky waters, at least Berk will back us…"

Gudrek hissed, rolling his eyes in exasperation, "Of course they're going to back you, from what I hear, you lot are something to the lines of "heroes" to them."

"Do you think Stoick will be coming back?" Tuffnut glanced toward the doorway he was "guarding".

"I don't know, he went to talk with the Gyoja, so I don't really know."

"You know what else I don't understand?"

Gudrek rolled his eyes again and scowled at Ruffnut, "Not much apparently."

Ruffnut drew herself up and in a low voice she hissed, "Don't get me started, I _will_ come over there and beat you senseless, Hiccup injured or not!"

"What is it then," he snapped nastily.

"As I was saying," She tossed another dirty look at Gudrek, " why is your father in charge of making the decision."

As the brown-eyed boy drew himself up, she held up her hands in defense, "I mean, why would other independent tribes listen to whatever order he makes? While we are at this gather, we may be coming together, but all the tribes still have their own independence."

Gurdrek deflated a little, the question was a worthy one. It was Fishlegs that answered, "Its out of respect."

Curious looks were directed to the pudgy boy. He collected his thoughts before starting, "While we're here, we are still on Shield's island and he has been very hospitable. It isn't easy to feed and house this many Vikings for long, which is why Gather's only last a week at the most. While we are here, we abide by whatever rules the current tribe living here goes by and thus, while here most decisions would have to be ran past Shield. It would be the most disrespectful thing to start a war right in the middle of a Gather, especially in someone else's territory."

Astrid nodded, after all it did make sense, "That doesn't mean they have to follow it after they leave this island though, does it?"

The grave looks that mirrored her own was her only answer.

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-With Stoick-

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When the gyoja had indicated she'd wished to speak to him, Stoick had followed meekly. For the most part, nothing really scared the red-haired man, he was strong and he knew it. There were two things, however, that he was scared from. His son's craziness in general and the Gods.

Gyoja that interacted with Gods were to be respected, though they were women, they had powers beyond what Stoick would feel comfortable knowing.

"Your son will live, if only by the will of _Tree_, the blade that pierced him sliced though a very important part of the body."

Stoick inclined his head, indicating that'd he wish to know without making so direct a question, out of respect.

"We believe that both soul and blood flows through us. But there are places that can be pierced where not only blood but the soul escapes. Many warriors injured in the shoulder believe their wound to be less deadly because it is only one wound and no where near the heart or brain, but this is untrue."

She glanced up at the taller man, "The shoulder is a place that bleeds a lot, but unlike a minor head wound, many die from major wounds in the shoulder where blood and soul flows freely. Your son's wounds were rather grave, he lost a lot of blood and the bones protecting his heart are broken."

Stoick sighed, again his son had nearly died, was Odin so desperate to have the boy in Valhalla? Surely there was no braver death to be had than to be slain in the middle of such a fierce battle, against a dragon the size of an island, and protecting 300 of your people. Death by assassin though, Stoick wasn't sure. His boy had fought back no doubt, but where his boy's soul go to if he was murdered? The mortal shell could die and though Stoick would be sad, there was always hope the boy would move on to the upper or middle after-worlds. Knowing Hiccup though, the boy would probably be the first Viking to find Hel peaceful and relaxing.

The gyoja nodded to herself, as if answering her own question, "The other tribe leaders have gathered and are waiting for you in the Main Hall. Currently, no villagers are being allowed close, I believe the one you call Gobber is watching over your tribe."

Stoick glanced back at the hut where his son was, "The children?"

She nodded again, more gently this time, "They will be fine, as long as they are on this island, no harm will come to them."

Stoick absorbed her words, "So you know then, my brother has sided with Berk?"

The fair woman closed her eyes, black charcoal lined them, enhancing the dark bark color of her irises when she opened them. "Your brother has sided with family."

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-The Council-

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Tired Vikings were nearly as bad as hungry Vikings. Tired _and_ hungry Vikings were never a winning combination. The situation was dire enough for Shield to insist that the others remain in the Hall to work out a suitable solution, but he at least made sure food and mead and ale made its way steadily to the tables.

Shield was sitting at the head of the table, but his chair was less ornate than the others around the smooth oak table. This was considered to be acceptable, that he held the head position, but kept his status as close to the others in the meeting as possible. For no clan ruled another, they had to co-exist.

The large red-head hissed out a quiet sigh, this event was certainly a large rock tossed into a bee-hive and old grudges were coming back out. For the most part, a week was just long enough to re-affirm bonds and for people to have some fun before rushing away again, too much time in one area resulted in sniping, which led only to headaches.

There was a noise from the outside of the Hall doors and ten heads snapped up from whatever bitching they'd been doing, though they would deny under torture they were bitching at all.

Stoick strolled in, the gyoja at his side bowing only slightly before she ushered herself out. They knew where they had no power and this was one place where Odin have blessed leaders with absolute power over their tribes, the War Hall. Plus, she wasn't all that interested in the battle they plotted anyway, her job was praying and patching them up when they dragged their sorry selves back. She had more important things to do with the Elders rather than worry about the silly workings the men seemed to get caught up in.

After she'd closed the heavy doors behind her, Stoick made his way to the only chair on the left side of the table which was big enough to fit at least 28 people down one side. Such grandeur was a little showy, but for some tribes, it worked.

Shield, even at his middle age, could not help the shiver that went over him when his older brother walked into the room. Stoick had the perfect presence for a man brimming with power. Memories of running scared whenever Shield made Stoick mad ran through his brain and it was like he was thirteen again, admiring and wishing he could be like his older brother.

This was one of the hardest things in his life, this meeting could hold the future of how the alliances between their nations would hold out. Shield waited respectfully till Stoick was seated, then pushed his chair back and stood up.

"We are all here today, to come to a decision on how Berk should be dealt with. We will start with the first matter, that Stoick the Vast knowingly allowed his tribe to make peace with dragons. Stoick, you may give your side now." Shield sat back down and willed his twitching leg to still, he was worried for his brother, but couldn't figure out why. If anyone was the picture of calm, it was Stoick with his hands placed in front of him and deep blue eyes glinting as they hardened to stare at each leader around the table.

"I've already to ye' the whole story. As crazy as it sounds," Stoick rolled his eyes heavenward, "Hiccup managed to _finally_ land a hit on a dragon, which miraculously turned out to be a Night Fury and which he "made friends with"."

Stoick made a face, as though the words were sour on his tongue. "Now look here though, I don't love dragons. They're fine enough, children get along with them more than us older folks that know a thing or two about how vicious they can be. That doesn't mean they aren't useful, we get things done much faster now that we can fly over land instead of by ship or horse."

He tapped a finger on the smooth wood, thinking carefully, "Honestly, I don't know exactly when the dragons settled into Berk, but once they did, there was no getting rid of them. Several of my men in the village have grown, ugh, attached to the damned beasts and I care about how my people feel," his eyes slid over to look at Gaggar in a pointed stare.

Shield tilted his head, he knew there was one last thing that Stoick wanted to say as he'd known Stoick for as long as he could remember. Sure enough, his elder brother began to twirl a braid in his beard before clearing his throat, "A-and as much as I'd rather bite my tongue of than say it out loud, say it I must. I am indebted to that Night Fury out there, for he _did_ save my son, whether or not you lot choose to agree that the story occurred or not."

Raobaror held up a finger, to indicate his wish to speak, Shield nodded to him, as he was the monitor of the discussion.

"Do you have any evidence to back up the story that your son and the beast killed this "queen" dragon?"

Stoick gave a bitter smile, "What, ye think I can just pack up her bones and cart them around? She was the size of this island alone! If you wish to see the skeleton, I can guarantee its still on that forsaken hellish island."

Blue irises glittered with thought, "Can you?"

All eyes turned to Raobaror and Balli couldn't contain his outburst, "are you insane?"

The older man gave Balli a disapproving stare as Shield cleared his throat, a small reprimand to wait his turn, though he was just as curious. If the leaders of the Viking tribes did not uphold themselves with honor, they would be no better than the pathetic villages they raided.

Raobaror only stared more intensely, "Could you take us to see the bones of this Queen dragon? Or bring back some of them? Within the week? Proof that she existed, proof that she is dead, and proof that your son can indeed tame dragons is necessary to make a good decision."

The other men shifted nervously as Stoick nodded his head, "Aye, I can bring you there to where the damned thing died, but it would be faster to ride on one of the dragons."

Several of the men recoiled, their disgust evident on their face from the idea of laying down their prejudice that dragons were bad and vile things that should all be beheaded on sight.

"This can not be allowed!" Grimi shot up from his seat, "I will listen to no more fairy tales of dragons helping humans and "taming" dragons. You have taken leave of all your senses Stoick and I demand that your tribe pay for your betrayal to Viking tradition with blood!"

Stoick stood up so fast out of his chair that it went skittering off to this side to land near the wall, "You can blame me all you like, but you will not be harming a single person of my tribe! They are all great Vikings that have spent their entire lives faithful to tradition and to upholding all that makes us Vikings! If you have an issue with this, you take it up with me, enough blood has been spilt already!"

Before the two could leap at each other, Geilrir stood up. He didn't shoot from his seat like Grimi, nor did he explode out of it like Stoick. He rose with careful precision, carefully pushing it back and standing in his own unhurried manner. "That will be enough, this is a meeting for leaders of tribes, not a play date for nursing children." His voice, as soft as a spring breeze, but very deep, managed to speak more loudly than the two shouting men combined.

"I have had enough of this, we are all adults and should act it. Gathers are meant for fun, peace between tribes, and for new families to be arranged; this is a disgrace."

The gray-haired man closed his eyes, "I, for one, am interested in seeing the skeleton of this dragon the size of an island. Dragon bones are useful and strong, the gyoja and elders of my tribes would be pleased to put them to use. I volunteer myself to be one of the tribe leaders that go." And with that, Geilrir sat back down, his hands clasped loosely in front of him.

There was a long silence that followed before Vakr raised a slender finger, scarred and calloused from feeding his hawks. Shield, relieved to have someone willing to break the silence, nodded to him with apprehension.

For a long moment, Vakr said nothing before he nodded to himself. "I too, am willing to go see this dragon, as well as fly on a dragon. I have already stated the idea that hawks and falcons seem similar in nature to dragons, I would like to see for myself this "taming" process. Hawks can never be truly tamed, but they can be taught. Perhaps it is time to make use of these creatures." He paused to give a rueful smile, "and if this story does not hold water, than we kill the dragons the Berkians have, disband the tribe, and re-educate the villagers. Perhaps it will only take re-training the people for them to remember what being a Viking is."

Stoick fingers curled into the table, his blunt fingernails digging gouges in the wood. He raised his index finger, and the expected outburst never came, "If the story is proven true, which it will be, what do you say to that?"

Vakr nodded at the question, "Then we will have new weapons at our disposal, something which our enemies will not."

Adalvaldr raised a pale finger, "I do agree to Vakr's last point. If these dragons do prove to be receptive to being tamed, or at least can be beat into submission, we will be able to take much more land." Cold blue eyes sparkled at the thought of victory, "It will be truly glorious to be able to finally be rid of those beasts that call themselves people in the East, constantly pushing in towards all of our lands."

Eior shook his head furiously, "I can't believe you all are giving this such serious thought! It is blasphemous to be speaking of living with dragons! It's ridiculous to even be debating about what is to be done! They should die for their betrayal and we should all move on with our lives."

Shield snarled slightly, "If we can not make it through one meeting, none of us should be able to call ourselves the leaders of anything but instead bickering old women."

Eior sneered and contemptuously raised one finger and Shield glared as he nodded to him, "As I already said, there is no reason to be continuing this debate. Enough is enough, kill them and be done with it, even if we exile them it is not enough."

Raobaror shook his head while Banki tapped a finger on the table. Shield acknowledged the tap and Banki near exploded in rage, "I can not condone the idea of killing of hundreds of children just so your sense of what is honorable and what is not can be satisfied. Children are to be treasured, especially older ones, for many babies die young and we need children for our tribes to continue on. There is no leading when you tribe has dwindled down to just you!"

Balli stared open-mouthed at his younger brother, "How can you be spouting such things? Those children will never be able to just "forget" how they've become tainted from living with, "his eyes glared over at Stoick, "…with animals. They should be put out of their misery now, for they will never regain their standing as true Vikings."

Gaggar raised a whole thin hand, "Kill them all, Hel will be happy to have them."

Shield recoiled internally. Kill his two brothers? Kill his cousins, nephews, nieces, and friends?

Suddenly, Stoick began to laugh, causing the entire lot of leaders to look at him strangely.

"Stoick-" Shield began, but was cut off as his brother waved a hand.

"While I appreciate this whole thing, I just have one question." Stoick smiled, his eyes still glittering with humor.

Shield nodded to his older brother to ask it.

"Just how do you think you're going to kill us? Fine, me you can kill, I'll go along with that just for appearances sake, but are you willing to take on not only the Vikings of Berk _but_ their dragons as well? They sort of come in pairs these days."

It was a sobering thought and Shield nearly laughed out loud as well when he realized just how absurd this was, after all, just fighting Vikings was difficult enough, especially if they were people you'd just been enjoying a drink with 12 hours earlier, but the idea of taking on not only 300 Vikings, but also their 300 dragons as well?

Balli snorted, "Our combined numbers is more than a match for you and your dragons."

"There would be massive amounts of death on all sides," Banki hissed.

Stoick shook his head, "Well let's get this over with then and put it to a vote." He looked up and stared at his brother, "Go ahead now Shield."

Shield blinked from the suddenness and took a long moment to just breathe. His eyes stared the ornate hall, with its mounted heads, the huge fire hearth, long tables for eating and merry-making. Now, instead of cheer, it seem so drab. The warm earthy brown tones of the wood were cold and bland, but even Shield could not bear to continue the discussion any longer.

"Fine, we'll start with Raobaror-" Shield was cut off as the man shook his no.

"Alright, Raobaror says no, that the Berkians should live."

"If this story with the Queen is true, then yes, that is my answer."

"Adalvaldr, what do you think?"

The man shook his head no, "I will not be sending half my tribe off to Hel when these demons can be useful to our purpose as Vikings."

"That's two for no. Balli, should I just count you for yes?"

Balli snorted and nodded his head, "I will not allow them to poison those of us who still believe in the Viking way."

"Vakr?"

"I say no, as Adalvaldr said, they might be useful. We will need them as the cities and villages are becoming more and more secure."

"Three say no and one says yes, Eior?"

"Kill them."

"That would be a yes then, so we have three for no and two for yes. Banki?"

Banki raised his eyes to stare at his brother for a long moment before shaking his head no, "I can not allow so many innocent children to be killed so needlessly."

"Four for no and two for yes, Geilrir?"

"No, they shouldn't be punished with death or exile. If this dragon exists, they have done us a great favor."

"That is five for no and two for yes, Grimi?"

"They have forsaken their Oaths as Vikings and I demand them to pay for their crime!"

"A "no" would suffice. Five for no and three for yes, Gaggar?"

The sullen man gave a terrible grin, "I would enjoy killing them, yes."

Shield scowled, but nodded none-the-less, "That makes it five for no and four for yes."

There was another pause before Shield gave a sad sigh and stared over at his brother, "Stoick, you know I can not allow you to vote."

Stoick nodded gravely, he gave no outward signs of anything, no cues for Shield to read or to pick up on. He was leaving his fate solely in the hands of his younger brother.

It was hard to detach completely from the fact that the votes were so close to come down to him. He could not simply cut off the affection he had for his sibling, the man who'd taught him how to fight with his bare hands, or to row a canoe, or how to catch huge fish with nothing but a sharpened stick. The days when all three of them, Stoick, Shield, and Spitelout went camping in the woods, looking for trouble and almost always finding it. Remembering what it was like to become the new leader for a tribe at such a young age and the feeling of pride that he had for his elder brother in accomplishing his birthright and leading a successful tribe.

Shield could remember the wedding Stoick had and how in love the big lug was with his new wife, but wouldn't admit it except in the dead of night. These were memories and feelings that could not be set aside easily, but he did his best.

Shield stood straight and made to shake his head yes, for now that he was thinking about it, was it not the right thing to do? And yet, remembering how much respect and admiration he'd had when he was younger stayed his head. The feeling of how much he had wanted to be like Stoick when he grew up was returning with full impact.

Well, he was grown now and Stoick would not abandon him to some twist of fate. Shield felt a little sick at the thought that he'd, just now, nearly said yes to the destruction of his brother's tribe.

With a very deliberate and controlled motion, Shield shook his head no.

Shouts erupted and echoed in the large Hall, Eior and Gaggar at the head of it snarling with rage. "I don't care if that is how the rest of you feel, we will not allow it!"

The doors to the Hall burst open with a great bang, leaving the Hall to fall into silence.

Outside the threshold stood a crowd of people, all the villagers that had been waiting with bated breath to find out what terrible news might fall upon them. But in front of them were four people: Eyvi, Hanhista, Gobber, and a man that Shield recognized from his own tribe.

Before the leaders got over their shock, Shield motioned for them to enter, "What is it? Be quick because we're still in a meeting."

Gobber snorted and ran his tongue over his fake tooth, "I'll be her' for just a second now, got to talk to Stoick."

He limped over to his leader and leaned down to whisper into Stoick's ear. Shield turned back to the other three, "Well, what do you lot need?"

Hanhista nodded toward Nidud, "Nidud says his daughter Ragna saw that assassin that attempted to kill Hiccup at the Gather field."

Shield blinked, "And she's sure it wasn't a brawl? That it was a murder attempt?"

Hanhista shrugged, "all I know is that Nidud here went home and found out his daughter had been at the field around the time Hiccup was getting beat."

"Go and bring your daughter here, I will be asking her some questions."

"Yes, Shield." Nidud bowed his head and left the Hall in a hurry, the oppressive air was nearly to much for him to stand.

"So what is Eyvi doing here then?"

Eyvi drew himself full up straight, "I am here to take over leadership of my tribe."

Shield felt his headache flare up, "You couldn't have perhaps chosen a better time lad?"

The blond young man stood even straighter, "I know what my father thinks to be right is not right at all. I will not let my tribe go to war if I can stop it. There is no _point_ in Viking brothers fighting Viking brothers."

Shield smiled, "Well you certainly have thought this through a little more carefully."

From his side, Shield saw Eior rise from his seat. "And that _boy_, is why you still are not leader, you don't have the spine nor the balls to be a true man."

Eyvi remained pillar-straight. "You have become even more vicious in your old age, a different kind of vicious that involves the sharpness of words than a blade."

Eior scowled and unsheathed his blade at his side, "I have no need for a weak heir like you. If it is you wish to die now, then so be it, there are more half-blood children for me to choose from."

The teen managed to unsheathe his sword in time to block his father's sword as the man rushed him, gasping in pain as the shock reverberated down his arm. Eyvi had not forgotten how strong his father was, but he had not expected the man to attack so fast.

"What's the matter boy? Didn't expect your old man to be so strong? Well, you can't undo this, so stand up and die like the man you wish you could be."

Yells of rage erupted outside the Hall doors as the villagers watched the two battlers circle each other. Several of Eyvi's friends rushed up the steps and surged through the doorway, axes drawn as they came to stand behind him.

"Oh? Your little friends want to die with you? I don't mind at all, disrespect," the man spat as he looked straight at Stoick, "should be wiped out as soon as possible."

He leapt forward, his old body still reacting to his commands like they always had, and his sword found Eyvi's side, or would have had one of the brown-haired lad's not jumped in front of the blade.

"Kjar!" Eyvi cried out as the boy went limp from death.

Banki roared in rage, for it was a boy from his tribe that was pierced by the blade, "Eior, you scoundrel! That boy is not even from your own tribe!"

Banki moved swiftly forward as Eior pulled out his sword and shoved the boy away without even a glance, "Stupidity is another quality that should be stamped out as well."

Eyvi trembled in rage and he lashed out violently, his sword making a high arc as he slashed at his father's chest. Eior brought his own sword up to block and there was another clash. The two began to push against one another, each trying to force their own blade down.

From where Stoick was sitting, he was able to see that Eyvi was, indeed, slowly overcoming his father. Eior was not one who like to lose and he reached to his waist for Seaxe.

Stoick had had quite enough for one day. He leapt from his chair and slammed into the smaller man, Eyvi backing away in terror at seeing Stoick in a full rage. "You are the disgrace! Willing to kill your own son! Despicable excuse for a human, you are no better than a beat yourself!"

Stoick specifically ignored the fact that he'd once practically disowned his own son, but he'd never tried to kill the boy! Not that he didn't want to sometimes out of sheer frustration.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Shield shouted over the chaos. "Stoick, hold Eior facing me and brace his arms."

It took a second for Stoick to calm himself enough, but he shifted the man so that he was facing Shield.

"We all have told you multiple times to step down from your position and allow your son to become the new leader for your tribe, but we respected your wishes to not force the issue. You have slain a teen that is not even a member of your tribe and had no business with you and your son's fight. Yes, the boy jumped in the way, but it was you that cause this whole affair to reach such a point. You have two choices now, give up your leadership and live, or I will allow your son to stab you now and be done with the mess.

"This is a coup! I knew you wanted me dead Shield!"

Shield glared at the man, "I wanted no such thing, now choose!"

Eior snarled, "I choose death!"

Shield growled back, "So be it!"

All eyes turned toward Eyvi, who was kneeling beside his dead friend. When he looked up, his eyes were hardened. Grabbing his sword, the boy made his way over with purposeful steps, "Perhaps you can find some peace in the other world."

Without any more fanfare, the teen raised his sword and sliced down deeply across both arms.

Eior didn't cry out, but he snarled like a wounded animal.

Both Stoick and Shield were shocked, "What are you doing?"

Eyvi shrugged, "I'm making sure he dies, he will never have full use of his arms again, is that not death?"

Stoick gave a huff as Eior suddenly collapsed from the rapid amount of blood leaving his system left him faint, "Bring the gyoja! We have some wounded here!"

Shield put a hand to his head, "Let's meet again this noon, I think we all need some time."

Eior snarled from where he'd fallen on the floor like a limp doll, "I will kill you all!"

Eyvi shook his head sadly, "I declare myself the new leader of Burguns, I will lead my tribe to victories and greatness."

As the old man snarled and spat, the gyoja all worked to pick him up and carry him away to be medicated to sleep.

"This isn't over," Balli said as he walked past Shield, but even his words seemed to loose the venom it had earlier.

Shield stalked stiffly outside, the fresh air filling his lungs. He was outwardly calm and sturdy, but inside he was shaken, today had been so terrible!

He felt a presence near his side and he didn't need to look to see it was Stoick. The two brothers stood there for a long moment, neither needing any words to know the other's gratitude and respect. Stoick nodded then, "I'll be off now, I'm told Hiccup will be waking up soon." A firm pat on his shoulder was all Shield got before the man began to stride off.

Breathing in another lung-full of clean air, Shield rubbed his head again, his brothers were both safe now, or as safe as one could be as a Viking.

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-With Ragna-

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Ragna leaned against the trunk of a huge gnarled tree, the rough edges digging into her back. She ignored it as she shifted her weight from one foot to another, listening to the key's on her key ring jangle each time she moved. Absently, she stroked the fur of her coat, thinking of her father who had gone to tell Leader Shield that she'd seen the assassin.

But she hadn't seen any assassin until he was already dead and cold on the ground while fighting broke out all over the place. The only choice, the girl could see, was to say that she'd seen the assassin. The trouble she'd get into for the dragon was bad enough, but her father would loose status if the leader found out his daughter had been able to find the keys to the arena.

And…she couldn't believe that everything her parents had taught her about dragons was all wrong!

Like those silly superstitions that if she was bad, a Night Fury would descend from the sky and snatch her away to make a soup out of her. Or if she placed the tooth of a rare dragon beneath her pillow on the night of a full moon and made a wish, her wish would come true. That dragons were evil, and blood thirsty, and just plain mean!

Sighing in irritation the girl grabbed her hair band and moved it to hand near her throat, wind picked up nearby and she looked toward the hut that Hiccup was in. She felt bad about what had happened to the handsome boy. He had a real gift; she could sense it.

She looked up as she heard the thumping sound of heavy footsteps, she watched as her father walked up to her. "Ragna, be ready to meet with Shield at noontime. You're relieved of any duties in the arena to think of a proper response to him."

Ragna blinked, "But father, what was the question?"

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-With Hiccup-

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Blackness, that was all I could see, hear, and feel. Some might wonder how blackness might have a feel, but it did. It was a feeling of thickness, something pushing down on your very lungs so they couldn't get air. Pushing down on your heart so it couldn't beat. How long have I been in the dark?

Uggggh, and why did I feel like a Monstrous Nightmare just sat on me? There was pain everywhere, all radiating from my chest downwards, even my little toe was aching! There was blackness and I really didn't understand that, was I still asleep?

It felt like I had been sleeping for forever and I didn't want to sleep anymore really, I would have to get up soon to feed Toothless…

My whole body shuddered as I tensed up, I remembered everything in that one second. I tried to yell for Toothless, worried that the villagers might have really managed to kill him this time, but all that came out was a gravelly groan.

I heard people shifting, voices that were welcome and familiar. I relaxed slightly as I heard them murmur to themselves, I could sense that they were not awake, but the idea that they were nearby was comforting.

"Toothless?" I tried again, calling out softly. I was afraid to call for him, afraid that he wouldn't answer because the villagers had killed him, but I had to know.

Something carefully brushed my side, and a low crooning noise came from near my right shoulder. I felt the last of the tension drain away. "Toothless, we're alive, hehe do you believe it?"

The dragon snorted, his air puffing out over my face and I welcomed the steamy breath, I was alive! He was alive! My friends were all here and alive! My joy was short lived, as now I felt apprehension. Why was it so quiet? What was going to happen now that the whole lot of Vikings knew about Toothless?

Another low croon met my ears as Toothless picked up on my worry. I felt a person near my side shift and it was then I realized someone was holding my hand. I turned my head carefully, pain shooting up everywhere from even that small movement. I could smell the scent of Astrid's soap, so it must be her that was holding my hand. I smiled, despite my pain. It would kill her to know she fell asleep holding my hand.

Groaning softly this time, I turned to look back to where I thought Toothless's head would be. "Well buddy, quite a fine kettle of fish we've gotten into here, huh?"

A gentle snout nuzzled my cheek and the dragon curled back up once more. I felt him settling down, he seemed to be both pleased and relieved, "Ha! Worried about me, were you?"

All I got was a snort, but the weight and warmth at my side told me plenty.

I smiled, "thank you again Toothless."

Strangely, I was starting to feel very soothed and didn't even notice as I slid back to sleep.

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End Chapter

Oh dear God, what did I write? I don't mean for this chapter to be hurried, but I want this to reflect that all of this is causing chaos. I hope it makes sense and you all enjoy it. Also, that it isn't too boring, I felt that this was needed to finish fleshing out the characters and show their thought processes on how they came to their decision. If you didn't like it, I'm sorry, I thank you all for sticking with me for so long!

The next chapter will be where the bones are discovered, stories are validated, and Hiccup finds out who tried to kill him. All the while, people try to adjust to more and more dragons arriving from Berk.

And thank you SkyHighFan for you help, this next chapter I write will be sent for you to beta since I couldn't get this one to you.

Thank you MeloDenesa for your help in one scene.

Two gods were introduced. Tree the god of life and Joro the Goddes of the Earth. Thank you to the anon reviewer that corrected me about the shoulder. I won't change the chapter, but I now know that the shoulder wound does not bleed as bad as a neck wound. For this story then, let's just keep it that HIccup got stabbed on the shoulder at near the junction. If any of my info is wrong, please let me know. All mistakes are mine and FF net, since it seems fond of erasing letters and punctuation today.


	13. Mourning Mists

Hello, hello! I'm back and bringing an update behind me! It wiped me out to write this chapter, but you all deserve it for waiting so patiently for me to scrounge up the energy, so thusly, here is my effort! Happy respective holiday to you all! Wherever you are or whatever you celebrate, cause 'tis the season! For me it Christmas, but I'm a poor, poor (sheltered) girl, so why don't you all leave a review with a shout-out of the holiday you celebrate? I don't care if it's Presents GIVEN TO ME day, well wishes to you all!

**Rating: **Still T? I guess as long as there is no rampant sex or, I don't know, explicit death it will remain in the T section?

**Disclaimer: **I don't own this! Well, I guess I "own" the plot as my internet lawyers have "explained" to me, but outside of that Cressida owns her books and Dreamworks owns the movie adaptation.

A/N babble: Sorry again for such a long wait between updates, but I'm trying my best! Honest! Okay, well most of my best! I will be trying to update Outcast later this week, and maybe -just maybe- if I'm feeling even more stupendous then usual, I'll update ITAV. Oh, I know that the POV changes around a bit. I really us to be able to see what's inside Hiccup's head, which is why he is in first person. The actions of others, though, are important for the story and to see how Hiccup reacts, which is why they are in third person. I hope it's not too confusing.

Thanks SkyHighFan for trying to take a looksie at my chapter! Since he tried his best and I still couldn't get the file to him, he get's mad props for patience. So, all mistakes are mine and FF. net because they don't like me.

Chapter 13

~~Mourning Mists~~

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When Ragna was summoned before all the tribe leaders, she was sure she would faint straight away. She was lucky that there was only seven leaders at the hall to meet her, instead of the normal eleven, or she might have also might have been sick on Shield's boots.

Furiously stroking the soft fur of her coat, a nervous gesture if there ever was one, she could feel sweat beading at the back of her neck. Perhaps they would all only see her being all sweaty as being nervous in front of them. After all, who wouldn't be nervous in front of such scary, and huge, enigmas?

Huge liquid brown eyes peered up at Shield, who merely sighed at how tired he was becoming. One thing right after another, had Gather's of the past all been so crazy? Sure, each Gather had their own crisis, but this by far took the prize for being the most mind-boggling. And now, he had to question this little girl-child about an assassination… at HIS gather and near HIS tribe. And DRAGONS!

Sleeping was seeming to be more and more a good idea to the weary man, but after looking around him at the other six tribe leaders, he could see the tension in their faces.

Stoick stepped forward and gave the girl a fierce look, one full of intimidation and stern determination. It was a look that had been perfected over the years, practiced again and again on members of his tribes that made stupid mistakes. It was so much, even, the stupid mistakes that made Stoick's blood boil, but the fact they tried to weasel out of their responsibility. Every member of every tribe had their job to do, and if it was not done, the tribe would fall to waste.

Understandably Ragna felt her breath catch in her throat, like she'd swallowed a chicken bone and it had since become stuck. She swallowed a few times, her eyes darting at the resplendent hall, it seemed like all the mounted heads were staring right at HER. Like the dead trophies could sense her lies and they were tormenting her with their lifeless, dead stares.

"Ragna."

The girl's head snapped away from staring at the head's so violently, Shield was afraid she'd break it.

She gave Stoick her undivided attention, wide-eyed and wholly a child. Stoick felt himself toning down his "stare", he'd seen her kind of stare before and it reminded him much too painfully of his own son. A son that in the past week had managed to find himself in a mire of trouble. Hel, it seemed that it was the only thing the boy could, without any doubt at all, find whenever he stepped outside.

"Were you at the Gather field last night when Hiccup was attacked?"

Ragna took a deep breath, here was her moment, a moment to convince them that she had in fact been there.

"I-I was there! I couldn't sleep because I was so excited from the Gather that I needed to walk!"

Stoick and Shield both nodded their heads, this was reasonable, Viking children especially needed to be kept active or they got into trouble, well… worse trouble.

Ragna began to get really into the whole "story-telling" aspect, "It as really dark, but it was okay because the moon was full and I could see everything. I remember walking along and it was cold too, but cold doesn't bother me because I'm a Viking. The was hardly any wind and I decided that I would go down to the Gather field to see if there were any other children up to play Catch-the-Dragon with. And that was when," Ragna paused at this moment her eyes going wide and she threw her arms, "when I saw it!"

She seemed pleased with herself, nodding her head as she hashed out the story in her mind, yes that would work and the next part she be her horrified reaction at seeing such a terrifying man trying to murder poor Hiccup!

Stoick tilted his head in a "and?" fashion, but the girl didn't seem to notice the pointed look, tilted head, or the and-then gesture with the huge hands.

And then, Ragna decided, after she had told them about her horrible experience of seeing him, she would tell them that she blacked out the rest! Yes! She could describe the scene, with lots of blood and screaming, then tell them that it was so shocking she couldn't possibly have remem-

"Ragna!"

The girl jumped a good half a foot in the air and her eyes grew huge again, she barely managed to make an affirmative squeak, that yes, she _was_ listening again.

"What was _it?_"

"It was that man that was stabbing Hiccup, he was cackling and calling out so many horrid things!"

"Like?"

Ragna blinked, "um, herm, I can't really repeat them, my tongue will fall out."

Stoick blinked and then looked at this brother, eyebrow raised. Shield merely shrugged his shoulders and prompted the girl, "why didn't you report this to us earlier?"

Ragna thought about it for half a second, then turned on the water falls. Something all girls her age knew how to work to their advantage, because even adult Vikings didn't want to see their precious children cry, "I-I-I was just so scared! He was so mean and terrible! I can't even close m-my eyes anymore without seeing him there with his knife!"

Shield closed his eyes and waved the girl away, "Thank you Ragna, please stop your crying now. Almost of dragon-training age and crying like a child…" but his voice lacked any real conviction. And as Ragna turned to leave, she was sure none of them had caught the flash of triumph in her eyes.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-Hiccup

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My wound wasn't killing me, but I certainly did not enjoy sleeping on just the ground. When I had returned once again to those awake around me, I came to find that all of my body was stiff and it was a hassle just to get limber enough to move again.

Toothless had been at my side the entire way, crooning what he must have thought was encouraging noises, and to me they were, but it made Gudrek turn more pale than I'd ever seen my cousin.

I shouldn't have felt any rush of pleasure at seeing the confident boy so sulky and shaken in Toothless's presence, but Odin, I'm no saint and it was hard to rid myself of the niggling joy. Eventually though, it had to stop and I gave Gudrek my best "I-understand" look, "He won't hurt you unless you hurt me."

Gudrek gave a nervous cough and shoved his way past me to leave the hut for good, I patted Toothless on his smooth head and scratched behind a ear, pieces of dead skin flaking off. I frowned, "When was the last time you got sand-scrubbed?"

Both of those long ears perked up at the prospect of being rubbed and scratched with sand, and I laughed at the positively _hyper_ look that shone in his eyes.

Astrid wouldn't look at me in the eyes as I crossed the room, carefully stepping over sprawled, and snoring, bodies. I smiled as I knew she'd probably woke to find herself in her, eh, compromised position and was now dealing with her pride as well as her desire to show her feelings.

As I already thought though, when she wanted to be honest with herself and me, I was waiting. What Viking teenage boy didn't want ASTRID as their girlfriend? It was the same as what Berkian child _didn't_ want a Night Fury as their own personal dragon?

All in all, despite my wound -which was just super duper thanks for asking- it was a nice day, until I remembered all the shit that had happened in the last few days and my head started to ache in that special place reserved just for situations like this. First thing was first, find breakfast for the dragons. Second, find my father and asked him what in the world was going on. Third… well if I made it that far, I would just have to wing it, shouldn't be too hard after the whole Queen dragon plan. The plan that was thought up by six teenagers and three hours at best.

So, I set my off on my way down to the beach. It was a good walk too, the earthy sandy forest floor was like a cushion to my foot and I didn't get any dirt in my mechanical foot. I was thinking about maybe getting a boot to go on that foot, keep the dirt and stuff out. I tipped my head back to watch the muted sunlight filter through the leaves, and all around me as I walked the trodden down path, I could see fallen mossy trees and smell the scent of dew. Pretty magical really and it was at the thought of magical that I began to really study the forest.

It was your standard forest, one that was warm enough to sustain trees anyway. There were all kinds and I was especially tickled to see the damp fallen leaves from last years fall. I'd never been to a Gather in the fall, usually it fell during the summer, but I had heard of the beauty of fall here. Maybe this year, if you know, the tribes didn't go to some civil war, I could come back and watch the leaves change. Maybe Astrid would come with me, and we with our dragons could walk this same trail?

I reached out and put my hand on Toothless's back, the warmth from his scales and the way I felt his muscles ripple as he walked comforted me. He was alive, I was alive, and his movement confirmed that, how could I be upset when I was still alive?

When the trees started to thin out, I because almost straight away entranced with how the sun hit the water. It was beautiful, with the way it glittered and sparkled in the light, salty sea breeze air wafting by, and the sound of gulls as they wheeled about a rock formation to my side.

I used Toothless to help me balance and I wiggled off my boot, the sense of de ja vu overwhelmed me, but I didn't care. The cool sand squishing beneath my toes was to wonderful a feeling. I was completely caught up in the feeling when a gurgle from Toothless caused my to look up.

I felt my mouth fall open in indignation as the black imp had my boot between his teeth and he was giving me that look that so plainly said, just try me. I ran forward with a laugh, my limp wasn't even that bad and I chased the beast around. I called out all sorts of names, none that I could really recall because I was far to at peace to really keep track of such a thing. I finally "caught" Toothless when he overbalanced and wound up flailing into my legs.

We just laid where we'd fallen, I was still giggling from running around like a child after an overgrown salamander, but damn it, I had my boot back. I was happy just to lie there, it was soothing to listen to the waves crash, and see Toothless turn an adorable face to me, his expression mellow and goofy.

"Well, buddy of mine, what shall we have today?"

He gave me a mock serious look and gurgled to me.

"Haddock?"

I laughed as he gave me a withering glance, "Salmon?"

He turned his nose up in the air and looked at me from one eye. "Alright, alright, cod it is!"

He hopped up and made for the waves, all the excitement of a child. I followed at a more sedated pace and watched him snap his jaws at each salty misted wave. As he swam around in the shallows, I looked about for finding a net. Of course, Stugur would need a few chickens, but the others were perfectly content with a few fish to each of them.

It wasn't hard at all with Toothless dragging the net out a ways and then diving under the water to swoop down upon unsuspecting schools. Together we brought in a good haul. Enough for Toothless to have his fill and there was still plenty for even Fireworm to have as much as she liked. Horrorcow would be a little more tricky, considering she was vegetarian. I suppose I could just find a head of lettuce and hope that would suffice.

It seemed I was wrong, however, because when I had dragged the net full of fish back to the waiting dragons, she was hungry enough to dive into them without a second thought. I looked at poor Stugur, who was standing bravely off to the side, watching the others of his flock eat and he without anything himself.

I had, of course, looked for chickens to give him. But I had no authority to kill someone else's chickens and I couldn't very well steal them. Well, I could, but that wouldn't help my case much would it?

The problem solved itself when I saw Hanhista walking by, on his way to the Hall, no doubt. The blond man paused when he saw me and made his way straight over.

"Ah, so you've recovered enough to be up and around then?"

"… Yes. I'm feeling a little better."

I wasn't sure what else I was supposed to say, as I didn't know the outcome of the tribe talks, but he didn't seem unfriendly. Perhaps him not trying to kill me was a good sign that things were going well for Berk. Or maybe, it was just this man's unique personality that stopped him from killing and or herding me back to the stifling hut.

"So, what's eating him?"

I blinked from the suddenness of the question, wrong with who exactly? Hanhista nodded again toward Stugur, "Oh! He's a 'Nadder."

A blank stare met my explanation and I wanted to slap myself, of course Hanhista wouldn't know. "Nadder's only eat chicken meat, anything else is bad for their digestion."

Hanhista nodded at my explanation, "Well, it just so happens that there were a few chickens slaughtered this morning for lunch. A good six or seven, I think their making stew or what not, if you were to happen across one of them, I don't think anyone would miss it…"

Hanhista gave a wink and went on his way, "Not that I'm helping you or anything. I was just speaking aloud to myself, after all, I do love me some chicken soup!"

I stood there for a good minute, baffled completely by the man, before I just gave up. We Vikings were a crazy, strange bunch and I was more crazy then any of them but I wasn't a mind reader.

So with a goal in mind, I set off to "steal" myself a chicken. Because it wasn't _real_ stealing, I had permission and everything… of a sort.

========/\\\\\\\\\\\========= Stoick

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Stoick was pleased with the way the day was going. It seemed a little bit of light was peeking through all the shadows that had been haunting Berk. The flight team was already decided, Raobaror, Geilrir, Vakr, and Shield would be going with him to see the bones of the dragon Queen, as well as to bring back one of her bones.

They were as unsettled as to be expected, at the prospect of flying on a dragon and at the last minute, Shield decided Hanhista would come along as well. The blond man leapt at the chance to fly, for an actual reason outside of wanting to, on a dragon.

The problem was, that even if they all doubled with one of Hiccup's little gang, there still wouldn't be enough room. So Stoick posed the question of allowing Hiccup to be near the dragons kept in the arena.

"Stoick, I just don't think it'd be safe, one of us riding on one of them."

"Shield, listen, Hiccup knows dragons better than dragons know dragons. And we have a _Night Fury_."

"I'm sorry, is that supposed to _mean_ something?"

Stoick rolled his eyes, "No dragon breed besides Queen Bitch herself opposes a Night Fury, other breeds are positively frighted of them. There shouldn't be any trouble, as long as you don't rile them up."

Shield raised an eyebrow at the utterly batty things his brother was saying, don't rile up a dragon? That was like saying, don't steal the pie setting out fresh from being baked!

When they arrived at the arena, word had already been passed ahead for Hiccup and his group to meet them on the sands. Sure enough, as soon as Stoick entered, his eyes fell upon his son who was most certainly fine and smiling as though he hadn't been nearly killed… _again_.

"Father!" Hiccup exclaimed when he saw the leader enter the arena, his friends at his sides smiling and elbowing one another.

Ruffnut winked at Snotlout, "You owe me two weeks worth of breakfast duty! I told you they would come to ask us."

Snotlout snorted, "You're bluffing and everyone knows it was Fishlegs that made the statement."

"Yeah, but you were the one that agreed to the bet," she gloated.

Tuffnut smiled on the other side of Hiccup, "She's got her claws in now Snotlout, its best just to do your time."

-Hiccup-

I watched as my father strode over to me and I beamed with love when he put one heavy hand on my uninjured shoulder, "Son, you're okay."

Okay was an overstatement, as I was not feeling okay at all, but I wasn't about to die. I knew what he meant anyway and for him to be so open in front of his fellow tribe leaders must have meant he had been really worried.

"Heh, sorry Dad, I really messed up again."

My dad winked at me, "Nah boy, you just opened the chest a little sooner rather than later."

I laughed and thus we began to plan out the trip.

It honestly wasn't all that hard to convince the dragons kept with this tribe to help out. I decided to only take the two Nightmares, since they were the largest and would have little trouble carrying two riders.

I assigned my father and my uncle to either one. Then I told Geilrir to climb up behind my father and hold onto the makeshift saddle. Hanhista was riding on the Dervish, as he was the only one she'd even allow near her, besides Hiccup anyway. Raobaror was flying behind Snotlout, and behind me was Vakr.

I assured my father multiple times that I was fine, really, honest, okay, no seriously I'm fine. He'd retreat for a little while, but all the time throwing me worried looks like flying was going to break me or something.

It was decided rather early on, that Toothless would fly point, it really did matter because the only other dragons in the group were penned dragons that didn't remember the way to the Queen's island, especially now without her mental link to them.

It was recent enough for Toothless to remember and I promised him all the delicious cod he could eat it if he took us to the Queen's island. It was a battle though, the panic I saw in his eyes made me almost back out, I knew he was remembering that we both almost died there on the island. This was more important though, the very balance of peace rested with us once again, so we just had to suck it up.

The trip would take nearly two days, not that much time really, but I could tell the leaders coming with us were nervous about leaving things in such a state. My father had appointed my Uncle Spitelout as a stand-in Chief while he was away, to maintain peace until they returned.

I felt the way the wind was blowing and how calm the see was and decided that if we all pushed ourselves we could be there by dawn tomorrow. Provided nothing stopped us on the way.

It's hard to describe the emotions that I saw on everyone's face when we lifted up. I heard the manly yelp of Raobaror behind me, and I smiled when I saw Hanhista's face split open into a widest grin I'd ever seen.

Shield looked rather awestruck as he left the ground, but it turned into a small bit of panic when he tried to figure out how to steer the Nightmare. After all it _wasn't_ a horse.

"JUST ASK IT TO FOLLOW US!" I scream in my loudest voice, hoping it reached him. I guess it did, because the incredulous look he gave me was hilarious.

After the initial screams, yelps, crying, and acceptance stages were over, it grew peaceful. The joy of flying spread over me and I found myself feeling very tranquil. Even the throbbing of my knife-wound was lessened by the wind rushing through my hair. Behind me, every so often, I would hear Raobaror gasp in amazement, or sometimes hear him murmuring with wonder. My heart warmed to sense his wonder, because it was a good thing, wonderful to experience. There were no words to describe the freedom of the air and I couldn't have even begun to try.

The blue of the ocean stretched out for miles, white puffy clouds that I knew Toothless and I could both reach if we didn't have a second and very inexperienced rider along with us. I felt a twinge of sadness, because I wanted him to open up and charge recklessly into the sky, to feel that alive and to feel my senses explode at the rush of it all.

Instead, I settled in for a long flight, because as amazing as it was to fly, I knew it wouldn't be long before the grounded leaders would begin to feel sick. A sixteen hour flight was nothing to sneeze at, even for me.

I urged Toothless to go a little faster, to a speed that all the dragons could maintain, but one that was a little more hard-pressed than your usual everyday mozy flight. It was quiet for about three hours, with riders that were grouped together talking to one another, or for the most part napping. I heard the first of the protests, not from a human, but from one of the arena Nightmare's. She was squalling, which was not the same as crying despite it sounding like she was dying. This was the beginning of every dragon tantrum and I looked down at Toothless as he gazed up at me.

Three hours was not a long flight at all, sure it wasn't short, but it was most certainly not long. If we had to stop every three hours, we wouldn't be at the Queen till tomorrow night at the earliest. The best thing to do, if we were on the ground, would be to ignore her, similar to that of ignoring a child that was throwing a tantrum. I didn't have the luxury today, of giving her an attitude adjustment, and her throwing a fit in the middle of the sky, with my _father_ on her back. Well, it was not going to fly with me.

I twitched my right knee and clicked my foot into a position to allow Toothless to wing over to her side. He screeched at her in a rage, beat her a bit with his wing tips, but all the while careful of how much abuse he gave her. At the first sign of Toothless's displeasure, she seemed to forget that she had human passengers and that Toothless could get as mad as he liked and still not be able to do anything that might injure them. Still I was glad she hadn't realized this, because she stopped her complaining and went back to quietly flying along.

I couldn't be to angry at the poor things though. An arena dragon meant a chained dragon, or one in captivity, Not much endurance left after years and years of only being able to fly in a cage, so epic journeys across the ocean probably weren't something that they dreamed about. Again, none of us had much a of choice, because the outcome of one was incredibly _bad._

She managed to make it another two hours before she started putting out what I liked to call distress coos. These were the real deal and I could tell she was quickly tiring, her altitude was dropping. I made the signal for Toothless to search for a spot to land, because the middle of the ocean was not ideal, and yes that is the understatement of the month.

Only a small island, hardly big enough for all of use to land properly was found, but it was enough and I told Astrid that we'd only be stopped for an hour. Luckily, we seem to be on the same wavelength, because she went to the travel packs and pulled out some food for the dragons. I, myself, went over and began to distribute some dried travel cakes. They weren't much for taste, but they were ground up nuts, meat, and dried fruit all made into a "cake". It was nutritious and filled us with the energy to keep going, which is what we were going to need.

"That was the most amazing thing I think I've ever done!" I looked up in surprise to see Hanhista practically bouncing up the balls of his feet. He was pounding Shield's shoulder, though he really didn't need to, my uncle was smiling just as broadly. "It sure was. Stoick, why'd you never mention to us this whole flight thing?"

My father snorted, "Don't let them fool you, dragons are crafty little reptiles."

Toothless echoed my father's snort and flicked salt water in his direction, "Bah yourself you great scaly snake."

I rolled my eyes as an all out water war erupted between the two. Geilrir was shaking his head, "I must say I do already believe your tale of the Queen and her death, I just honestly never imagined being able to be up in the sky."

Vakr was positively shining, "How does one obtain an egg? I think I would like to start with a Nadder, I'm sure that they are almost exactly like falcons. Just think of all we could teach them to do!"

Raobarar was the most taken with the whole concept of dragons helping out, "Just think," he said, his eyes wide as he stared out over the sea, "think of how far we could go in just one day! How much land we could travel over, amazing…"

I did a little victory dance in my head, yeah Hiccup who rocks? You rock, we rock! I winked at Toothless and then at Astrid, "What do you think you two? Sounds like we got ourselves a wining vote here."

Astrid smiled, "I think we just won."

Fishlegs laughed nearby, "I _know_ we just won."

I just grinned and rubbed Toothless's ears, "What do you think buddy?"

Toothless crooned to me and butted his head gently against my bruised side. He was happy, but I could see the unspoken demand to continue on. Eager to be heading off, I wrapped up our break.

Getting the groups back on was no problem at all, I scarcely had finished checking with all the dragons, including the Nightmare I was going to call Persnickety. She seemed fine and had no trouble taking to food, so I just assumed that she was a little bit of a drama nut.

Back up in the sky, I was quietly daydreaming of what it'd be like to return back to the Gather, a Queen's bone in hand. The look on all of their faces, the idea that maybe, just maybe we would all be able to finally live in peace.

I don't know how long we'd been flying when the first scent of death hit my nose. We were still a bit far off to be at the Queen's island. Another six hours or more before we'd even have the place in our sights.

It had even been a year since we'd last been here, surely her body would have mostly rotted away by now, but such a stench!

I could see from the look on Geilrir's eyes when the other dragons began to wing in closer, their sensitive nostrils picking up death and making them nervous. His eyes were resigned, because he was intelligent enough to put the pieces together to get the whole tapestry.

As we got closer, the smell got worse. Even as high as we were, it seemed to have been permeated into the very water and any small islands we came across. Even Persnickety didn't want to land or rest, her head was swaying back and forth in fear.

I was dreading it myself, I could feel Toothless's apprehension the closer and closer we got to the island.

It was well into the night when the light of the moon revealed the island. The sweet sickly scent of decay was overwhelming to the point where I was choked and desperate to get any fresh air.

In the silvery light I could see her, her body had exploded from within, but her skeleton was blasted apart. Pieces of her were strewn all about the island and from our height in the sky, I could see her huge skull.

Some parts of her were already stripped bare, but there was still a leg there, a spinal joint there, a piece of tail thrown out along the beach. There was no mistaking what was left of her, the sheer amount of meat that she had could feed scavengers obviously at least for a year.

We all hovered there, in the air, solemn in the presence of her sheer size. How, even in death, she was still a monstrous dragon and even this wasted state we paid grudging tribute to what she'd been. I turned to stare at my father, he was shaking his head as he remembered leading his tribe to this island. My uncle was quiet, his eyes hooded as he surveyed the scene.

I didn't even want to land, not only the smell would get worse, but to be so near to her again made my skin crawl. I tapped Toothless on the side and pointed towards the rocks where my father had once navigated to find the island. I didn't even need to speak, for Toothless was already pulling away and the other dragons were hot on his tail, eager to be away from the scene.

I hope that the tribe leaders were happy with what they found, even though I'm sure it was nothing at all like they had imagined. As we landed among the cold slipper rocks, silence prevailed. There was not excited jumping, no smiles, and no laughing. I knew that the sight of the island had quieted them. As dragon hunters, to see the queens decayed from, they could use their own imagination to think up what she _used_ to be like.

Astrid was rather ho hum about it though, she'd been particularly scarred by this place, or I'd like to think so. Seeing the look of forced calm on her face made me think that she wasn't as okay with all of this as she'd have me believe. Never-the-less, we _had_ seen her when she was _alive, _so really we were able to continue on with our daily activities, which mainly meant setting up camp while those deep in their thoughts stayed in one place.

I started the fire... _okay,_ Toothless started the fire, I just aimed him at the sticks of driftwood. Astrid had directed Sturgur to carry the water caskes on his back over to me and then to lie low enough for Snotlout to pull them down. Ruffnut eyed the ocean, the same gray blue it'd always been, but she was calculating something in her head. I walked over to her, anxious at the catious look on her face.

"What's wrong Ruff?"

She closed her eyes slowly, before opening them and looking back at me, "We didn't bring much fish, figured we'd just pluck them out of the ocean if we got hungry enough."

I nodded, we had decided that since most of the dragons, barring Nightmares, seemed to have little problem with the water that they could just fish to their hearts content. She shook her head though, "Can you imagine what size anything living in the waters here must be? Being so well-fed and having acess to so much meat?"

She looked down into the dark waters again and shuddered, "Or what if there's another-"

"Another Water Serpent?" Tuffnut finished from behind us.

I turned my head to catch sight of his grim visage and started to grow nervous, "What?"

He indicated with his head off to the East, "Thought I saw two of them off that way, smaller than the one we saw on our way to the Gather, but still impressive enough. Most serpents never get very large, not much longer than a Dervish really, those two and the one we fought on the way must have been eating off the Queen."

The three of us remained quiet for a moment, Fishlegs spoke up after overhearing the last bit, "Well, none of us really know if any dragon or serpent stops growing. I've been watching Toothless and he's grown three inches longer in a year, thought most theories dictate he's full grown. A serpent with a steady income of meat, well, who knows how much they could grow?"

Well, that settled that, I'd be posting watches for the rest of the night. "Come one then," I shook my head, "let's get back to making dinner. I'm sure any fish in the water right now would still hesitate at the sight of seven dragons."

I hope.

I settled down on the most comfy patch of rock I could find and maybe I was a little insane for thinking any part of the rock might be soft, to set about cleaning my wound and dressing it. When a presence was felt near me, I thought it would be Astrid come to help, which was always welcomed. Not just because I liked her, a lot, but because her hands were quick with dressings and _ususally_ caused me little pain, unless I made her mad.

To my surprise, it was my father. He made a great deal noise trying to settle himself down the way I had, but he managed after a minute or so. Then, even though his hands were the size of forging hammers, he carefully began to clean the wound with the bandages I'd laid out. At my shocked face, he laughed, "What? I've been in so many battles my boy, I think I know my way around a bandage."

I couldn't contain my smile, my father was just trying to be close in the only way he knew how and even though he was not as gentle, his bandage was just as tight and neat as Astrid's.

"What do you think dad?"

"I think we have a very good chance now, better than we had earlier before they'd seen her."

I really hoped so, the idea of all Vikings accepting dragons would be a dream come true.

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-end of chapter 13-

Thanks all, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. It's moving along fairly quickly now, but I still hope it wasn't too boring! If you see a mistake, I'm always willing to change it!


	14. Dawning Realization

All righty, here is chapter 14. I don't have much to say, other then thanks for sticking with me for so long. I'm not putting the disclaimers in because if you've all been reading, you get the idea that I don't own this story or the movie. No special warnings for this chapter, some blood, but that's it. I'm also _**very nervous**_about this chapter. I know you all are probably expecting fanfare and rainbows, and unbelievably awesome story twists, but I got nothing for you. It's alright throw stuff at me, but I'm trying to ease back into this whole updating story vibe here and it's gonna take me a while to get back on the band-wagon. So please **be merciful to me**.

A/Note: Okay, I love that you guys love my story, but really, just understand that I don't have all the time in the world to write. I think it'd be awesome to do nothing but write everyday, but the sad fact is that I just finished my first year of college, finals sucked, and I still work almost everyday (I'm saving money to go to Dragon*Con). So, no, I don't have a large amount of time to spend on my writing and I thank you all for being so patient. And while getting reviews with small death threats are cute, I just want you all to remember that while threatening me has its advantages, it probably isn't going to get me to write faster.

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Chapter 14- Dawning Realization

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Morning had come and I was still up, my shift being the last. All around me my party was sleeping, some of them curled up against their respective dragons, some like my father leaned up against a boulder.

Myself? I had my back braced against Toothless, the warmth of his hide cancelled out the chill in my toes. Every so often, Toothless would snake his head under my arm, asking for a few scratches, but for the most part the two of us remained vigilant the whole night.

When I saw the sun, I breathed a sigh of relief, I didn't even know I'd been holding my breath. Now that the sun was up, those shadows at the edges of camp near the water were thrown into relief from the sunlight and I felt the tenseness of my shoulder relax for the first time all night.

I didn't expect anyone to be up yet, but I should have known that my father and the other leaders wouldn't allow themselves the luxury of sleeping in, it was too childish. I had even been hoping that they'd remain asleep for a little while longer, I wanted a few more minutes to collect my thoughts; not that I hadn't had enough time during the night.

The entire night had been a strange one for me. The feeling of the rough stone beneath my body was a focus point, because I felt like I was dreaming. The ocean in the night had a strange effect if you stared too long at the still waters. The feeling of being small and unmoving against the undulating waves made me feel unbalanced. The more I looked, the more unsettled I became when I saw the silver glinting scales of serpents as they writhed and twisted against one another in the surf. They were mindless beasts, not like my dragons and they seemed to be single minded in their play, riding the crests of waves and snapping every so often at one another.

Every time one of them surfaced, I clenched my fists into the dirt, ignoring the bite of pain that came from my fingernails. Toothless would raise his head, gurgling plaintively before turning his glowing green eyes to stare of the serpentine bodies. They didn't seem to bother him and I realized that before he'd come to stay with me, he must have had nights like this. Nights where he was stretched out over barren bleached rocks, his huge eyes staring out over the silent ocean and watching; always watching.

I patted the smooth scales, soothing him, "Well, Toothless, what do you think?"

Toothless snorted and very clearly laid his head back down on his forearms feigning sleep. I laughed at his action, a few private moments of joy before I would be forced to return to that terrible island and face the remains of that monster that had stolen my foot from me and had nearly taken more.

I shuddered, closing my eyes and cringing at the memory, it was so childish to react like this. She was dead and I am alive, she couldn't hurt me and she couldn't hurt my friends. Still though, her very memory cause panic to rise like the tide in the back of my throat, it was like I expected her to be behind every shadow, which was ridiculous because she was the size of an island and couldn't very well hide in a little old shadow. Tell that to my_ nightmares_, though, they didn't seem to think the reality mattered all that much.

"Hiccup? Are you ready to go to the island?"

No, no I _wasn't_ ready to go to the island, you know, that place where myself and everyone I cared about nearly died? No, not really. But I bit my tongue to stop from saying what I really thought, "I think we'd better wait for everyone to get up. One dragon can't possibly carry any bone worth bring back to the tribe by itself."

Toothless looked up and gurgled his angry growl, "Not that you aren't one of the most strongest dragons in the world Toothless," who mollified, returned to his intense staring at the water.

My dad nodded and even through the dread in my stomach, I smiled, we'd come so far that my father would take into account what I had to say.

I groaned inwardly, feigning nonchalance at my pain when I tried to stand. It had been harder than usual to stand these days, those aches from the battle and getting slammed around had left their marks deep in my bones. Toothless, like a black scaled angel, helpfully leaned in my direction to give me the momentum to stand. I hobbled about for a few seconds like someone that had drank too much ale, before I regained my flow and walked down towards my friends. I took a moment to observe the group of them, I wished I could capture this moment so I could show them later, they were so… peaceful.

They were all sprawled out against one another, Astrid was sleeping with her head on Ruffnut's thigh and Ruffnut herself was leaned up against her Zippleback's head. Snoutlout was sleeping cushioned on Fireworm's leg and Stugur's head was resting on Horrorcrow's back. Fishlegs was sleeping on Horrorcrow's tail, while Tuffnut was sleeping up on his dragon's back, the whole lot of them just looked like one tangled up creature.

I shouldn't have even thought about doing what I was about to do. It was just so cruel and really, they would all be so mad… but for a few minutes it would just be so worth it. So while I knew my existence would probably end with an axe through my skull, I cupped my hands around my mouth and cried out, "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"

It was instantaneous the way the whole group surged into attention, battle axes drawn and stumbling about into each other, wiping sleep from their eyes.

"Where? Where are they?" Snotlout yelled, before tripping over Fireworm's outstretched claws, running full on into Ruffnut who lashed back at him with a punch… which Snotlout surprisingly ducked away from and she ended up hitting Tuffnut as he slid down from his dragon's back. The whole lot of them descended into chaos while I laughed my ass off, tears of mirth rolling down my face. It was just too funny and I knew they would be angrier than a wet cat at me, but I just couldn't help it, this was just too funny to miss.

Astrid was the first to notice me laughing, not surprisingly she quickly put together that we were, indeed, not under attack. Her face was scary, but even then I couldn't abandon my fun, so I stayed in the same place hiccupping through my laugh.

She nudged Ruffnut and pointed with her chin at me, Ruffnut eyed me then she smiled. Now, it wasn't one of those smiles that you got when someone you haven't seen in a while walks past you, nor was it a smile that you get when someone who is your friend drops by at your house to go flying. Her smile promised revenge.

Tuffnut was giving me a disbelieving look, "You- you pranked us?"

I winked at him before glancing over at Fishlegs who was done having his panic attack, "I thought we were being attacked by serpents!"

"Come on you ninnies, time to go back to the island."

I didn't need to say anything else, any revenge or anger they might have had toward me melted away as each became lost in their own thoughts about the island. Even I was lost for a few moments thinking about it once again and I was jolted back into reality when I found a strong arm encircling my neck and a vicious fist rubbing through my hair.

"Thought I'd forgotten, huh? Well, you're gonna be bald by the time I'm done with you!" I struggled in vain, laughing with the others as Snotlout gave me the worst noogie of my life, well, they may all get me back later, but it was worth it to see them a little more relaxed.

When we walked back to where my father was, I noticed all two dragons from the pen were already harnessed correctly, I smiled and looked at Hanhista who was currently harnessing up the Dervish. It would figure that old habits would die hard. Harnessing horses wasn't so different from harnessing dragons… well beside the obvious size difference.

I grinned at him when he looked over at me, he was like a young boy now, trotting over eagerly and nodding back toward the dragons, "Well dragon-tamer, did I do it right?"

I moved past him to look at the straps, all neatly lined up with their mates. I tested one belly strap on the Nightmare and gave her a slap on her breast bone, "Rise up," was all I said.

She gave me a look of confusion, but when Toothless went to her side and threw out his chest allowing his wings to unfurl and beat at the air, she caught on. I squinted my eyes against the wind she generated and tugged on the breast strap, it was secure.

I nodded to her and she landed on her front claws, "I'm impressed, you watched us harness our dragons, what, once?"

Hanhista smiled, "It's like riding a horse- actually no it's not, bad comparison." Hanhista knew how much work went into properly riding a horse and it was never the same. Some horses were crafty, while others were perfectly content to be led around on a halter.

'Uh huh right, whatever you say crazy horse-man.'

I shrugged and looked at my friends, "Alright guys, time to get harnessed and go." I crooked a finger at Raobaror and indicated he should follow me.

Toothless was looking, eyes glowing bright and ready, he snuffled at me and butted his head against my chest and I smiled, "Yes, yes we're leaving."

I tugged at his harnesses and checked the tail-fin's lines making sure they were all secure, the last thing I needed was to go into a death spiral carrying one of the tribe leaders. "Rise up Toothless."

Toothless enthusiastically reared back, his wings spread brilliantly and showing off to all the other dragons, that yes he was magnificent, and no you can't have my Hiccup because he deserves the best, which made me smile.

"Oh, stop your preening song bird, let's go, the sooner we're gone the better."

"I completely agree," I turned my head at my uncle who looked me straight in the eye, "We dinne leave the gather at the most stable time, I don't know what the other tribes might have been driven to."

I flinched at the idea that a fight had broken out with us gone, the idea that my family might have been slaughtered along with my village and those sympathetic to us. "We'll hurry then."

I leapt up nimbly onto Toothless, who had lowered himself as close to the ground as he could get. I used to be able to do I perfectly, before I had lost my foot, but even now it was a respectable leap. Keenly, I noticed that Toothless had indeed gotten larger, "Careful there Toothless, you get any larger and I'll need a stool to get up on your back."

Toothless gave me a sly look, but it was tempered by the sheepish one in his eyes, "I'm only joking, I know you can't help it."

When Raobaror was safely seated behind me, and I was pleased that he seemed much less apprehensive and even that he was excited.

It seemed as though Vakr had appeared at my elbow from thin air and I startled slightly at how quiet was, "Leader Vakr," I intoned respectfully at the man, who returned my glance. He cleared his throat, "I know that after one day I'm not very experienced at flying on dragon back, but- well, I would appreciate being able to fly one today."

Well, one, that was the most I ever thought I'd heard Vakr say, I wasn't an important person to him… well a few days ago I wasn't, so it made sense that he wouldn't have much to say to me. Secondly, it was an…odd question. I wouldn't put even a Berkian child in control of the reins of a dragon after only one trip aback, but the man was a capable person and certainly Hanhista was having no trouble from the Dervish he'd been riding by himself.

Shifting my weight I squirmed trying to get comfortable. Toothless, obviously being able to feel my shifting looked up and very clearly nodded his consent. Not to let Vakr ride him, but to allow him the chance to ride alone on a beast.

This would mean we'd have to shift arrangements, I nodded at my father he moved back down the saddle and allowed the lithe form of Vakr to take up the reins. It would have to be a dragon from the pens, because no partnered dragons here would allow, except under extreme duress, a person that was not rider be "in control". Plus, only the dragons from the dragon pens even had reins, none of their chosen dragons in the group had any lead straps, because riding was meant to be an agreement between dragon and rider, with the rider only giving ques to where they wanted to go.

When were all settled, I looked over at Astrid who gave me a small smile. She was probably as jittery as I was, I turned to look at Snoutlout then and he gave me a thumbs up making me shake my head. It had been fun for him hanging from the huge Queen's face as he beat at her many eyes.

'Crazy warrior blood', I thought, that was the only explanation for why Snotlout seemed non-plus at returning to the island. He seemed to catch my incredulous look, "Well, she's dead right? So why worry about her? It's not like she can-"

Whatever he'd been about to say was cut off by a well-thrown stone that hit his arm with a THWAP sound. I turned instantly from the direction it'd came from to see Astrid looking at him with a self-assured smirk on her face. "Think twice before you go talking about the evil thing. The last thing I need is to haul your ass out of the line of fire-breath when her spirit raises up from you talking about her."

I didn't know where Astrid got the stone, I also didn't want to know why she had it just so ready near-by, but I did hope that she was all out of them. I also didn't know she was superstitious, which she probably wasn't because I got the feeling that she was happy just to throw a stone at someone.

I shuddered, such a scary girl. Scary but sexy so maybe it balanced out? Oh it didn't matter if she tried to kill him, she'd also kissed me -I remember it- so it wasn't so bad… right?

Below me, Toothless shifted to catch an ocean thermal and we rose quickly. Behind me, I felt a large hand grasp my tunic in terror, not that the proud leader would ever admit it. I smiled as we climbed higher and higher, "Peace Raobaror, Toothless wishes to show you what flying _really_ is like."

I was pleased with how smooth the flight was and when we punched through the fluffy clouds, I didn't need to look back at the elder's face to know he was in awe of the world spread out like a painting below us. I knew what he was feeling mirrored my own first flight, "Amazing isn't it?"

He didn't reply, I didn't expect one. With a firm pat, I directed Toothless back down, toward that putrid island, we had a bone to pick so to speak. I rolled my eyes at that thought thankfully passed unheard in my mind, imagine if I'd said it out loud, what a terrible jok-

"Hey, hey guys! We have a _bone_ to _pick_ with the Queen dragon!" Tuffnut shouted out across the stretch of air and I groaned along with the rest of the party leaning forward so I could smack my head against the smooth leather of Toothless's harness.

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-Scene Break-

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Harsh panting filled his ears, heart beating in his chest like a tribal drum from ages long past. His feet were bare and the dirt was cold beneath his calloused heels, but he couldn't stop running, he couldn't stop here. He tugged harder at the other hand clasped, dragging it along with him. He could hear her gasping too, but it didn't matter, all that mattered was crossing that line between the camps, without getting killed that is.

Gallin blinked backed tears from frustration and black smoke that were clouding his vision, he needed to be able to see right now as they were fleeing. Ever since the other leaders left… it had been madness. Even though the majority of the leaders were those willing to wait for Hiccup to return with the fabled Queen's bones, there were three very distinct tribes that led an attack against the others.

So far, the amount of those actually dead remained small, no one in any of the tribes could really believe that their leaders were at war, not with people who a few days ago they'd been arranging marriages and sharing a round of drinks with.

He wanted to stop, really he did and looking back into the terrified green irises of Swanwhite told him that she wanted to too. They couldn't stop here though, Gallin didn't have his sword and there was no way for him to defend the both of them. They were close to the friendly lines though, and his sharp eyes caught sight of Eyvi patrolling the line. Behind him, he heard Swanwhite gasp and call out the elders name, who turned like a snake after a warm mouse.

He left the safety of the line and dashed out to reach the two children. Stronger than Gallin and Swanwhite, he gathered them both up to his chest and took of running again. From his sides, he saw a Viking running toward them. He didn't know who it was, but they seemed to be half-hearted in their attempt to kill the children, a practice which was what was keeping the island from becoming a bloodbath.

Still, he kept after them until Eyvi's feet hit the "safe" zone, where three other Vikings from Shield's tribe brought up their own swords. The Viking chasing them gave up and prowled his own side, shaking his head and scowling, "Stay on your own side till this madness is over, I want no business killing children."

Gallin could hardly stand as Eyvi gently deposited them on the sandy ground, "What were you two doing outside the line? You know those three tribes control that side of the island now."

Swanwhite shook her head in sadness, tears streaming down her face and her skin was blotchy, "But they have Gudrek all tied up in the pens, he hasn't had anything to eat in two days!"

"They won't kill a member of the Ehre, maybe some other children from the tribes, but it is too much leverage to kill your brother."

"He was bleeding Eyvi! Bleeding so badly," the girl broke down and couldn't continue.

Eyvi shook his head, "Come on you two, we can't stay out here this close to the line.

He closed his eyes, the spring green irises disappearing behind his clenched eyelids as he tried to ignore the idea of any child bleeding to death. Already Gaggar had whipped his tribe into a frenzy and Grimi wasn't helping by yelling encouragement. While both leaders were incredibly cruel, it was the tribe behind them that was unsure. Surely, their leaders, while yes insane, were not suggesting a real civil war between all the tribes?

Eyvi sighed as he thought about those already dead. It wasn't a large number, not so bad when you consider how many were killed by Gaggar and Grimi. Each killed had been from either Shield's tribe or from Stoick, and Eyvi was sure there would be a payment to Hel made when those two returned. The young blond could only hope it was soon.

Gallin ran ahead toward the tents set up running past the remaining leader's "war" tent, as they believed that this still wasn't a true civil war. While Grimi, Gaggar, and Balli were deadly serious, the tribes behind their leaders were hesitant, so far no one had really put much heart into their skirmishes, but there was a growing discord among the masses. Discord over the obvious arrival of dragons that were _living_ with the Berkians, but also the idea that there was a Queen dragon that had been the size of an island that had been killed by a boy and one dragon?

The wild eyed boy ran over to where Gromr and Tryggr were standing, both silent. Even Tryggr was alert and worried, his usual easy going posture abandoned for a stiff and concerned one.

"No changes then?" Gromr tried to keep the hopefulness out of his voice, though his father was fearsome he never thought the man would go this far, as to actually start a war at a Gather.

Gallin shook his head with despair, before he darted off toward the other tents. Gromr hung his head in shame and sadness over his father. He wouldn't choose between the people that finally accepted him for being himself, or his father whom he'd always wanted approval from. He'd do almost anything for his father to accept him, but when he'd heard his father declaring war on the other tribes, demanding blood and death for them, he'd ran from the fire of his own tribe towards Shield's. His father had to have gone insane, there was no way anyone would go to war with another tribe at a Gather.

The boy slid ungracefully to the ground and stared out at the blackened ground, burned from when the first of the attacks had started and thrown live embers at some of the tribe's tents. That had been a day of pandemonium too. Well, the tribes supporting Shield and kind of supporting Berk were waiting with held breath for the return of Hiccup and the others here on this side of an "imaginary" boundary line.

It was simple, the three tribes had enough power to make the other tribes really think about attacking back. While Gaggar didn't have the power to wipe the other tribe's out, the combined three had enough to at least confine them to one side of the island and pain of death met anyone that ventured out.

Gromr heard someone walking near him and saw Ragna glancing at him with sad eyes. Her house was one of those that had almost been burned and she couldn't understand why the tribes were in such a disarray. Her parents had just managed to vacate the side of the island that was being used to house the three tribes that were bent on wiping out those associated with Berk.

She twirled her brown hair despondently with one finger, sniffling back tears and looking out over toward her father where he was helping dig graves for those that were dead. It wouldn't be much longer now, there was a tension over the whole island that was about to snap and she was glad she was on the side that had sharp teeth longer than her hand.

From her left she saw Gallin return from where he'd ran off to, a new longsword strapped to his back and this one was sharpened to a deadly edge.

He stared wordlessly at her, his eyes glowing that same unnatural blue before he walked down the invisible line that separated the sides. Another patrol, she thought, as she stared after the thin boy. What did he think that he could do at only seven? Still, that blade was as deadly as any other and Gallin just didn't… fight all that much like a human… maybe the stories were true about him? Was he really part animal?

Well, it didn't really matter as long as he kept his fangs bared at the real enemy, which sad to say were some of their own friends.

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-Scene Change-

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When we had arrived back at the island, no person in our group wanted to argue about what bone we should bring back, the stench was too overwhelming to dwell here for long. The bone we had to choose would have to be something recognizable as a bone that only dragons had, but large enough to give an impression of her size. The most obvious choice, at least in both mine and Fishleg's opinion, was her skull. With the brains and flesh all rotted away, it was nearly bleached white after a year or so in the sun, but it was possibly still too heavy for the eight dragons to carry whole. So then it was decided that we would separate the skull and see which half would be the easiest to carry for all the dragons if they employed the use of rope. That was three hours ago.

And of course it would be, how could we expect to be able to just walk off with half her skull when her skull was made specifically to not separate due to her sheer size and the way it was made up? A heavy skull for bashing, and probably something in her musculature to make sure her jaw and neck didn't snap. It was unforeseeable when we chose to go for her skull, that the jaw bones would not unhinge so easily now that there was no muscle or skin to hold them together.

Snotlout, my dad, and Uncle Shield finally seemed to making progress though. With half of us pulling all of our weight in one direction and the dragons helping the other half, the crack we heard was a relief as the two halves finally split apart.

I wrinkled my nose as my inhalation of joy caused me to inhale a whole lot of _bad smell_ and I had a hard time keeping down the little food that was in my stomach.

It was quite a task to get all of the dragons lined up and ropes hooked onto their harnesses and the whole time Persnickety was keen to let us know all about what _she_ thought about this business.

I ignored her and gave the all clear for the dragons to lift off, I was hoping the top part of the skull would be enough. Surely, her cranium and upper jaw bone would be enough to prove she existed.

The ropes snapped tautly and I felt a flash of worry that we might need more, but the bones were not quite as heavy as we thought. And how could I have missed that? Dragon bones had to be light enough to get the beast of the ground, and it was still a _bone_ not weighted down with muscle and blood.

It seemed awkward for the dragons though, and I constantly was shouting up to Toothless, who seemed to be doing well-enough with directing the movements of the other dragons, but it would have to do…

I shook my head and gave the signal for them to return to the ground, I hoped they would have enough strength to carry this monstrous thing back to the Gather, with us in tow on their backs no less! But I had faith in Toothless, if he couldn't make it work, then there wasn't any hope for the others.

My father had a grim look on his face as we all got back into the saddles. I returned the look with equal trepidation, after all, eight dragons would need many stops carrying this huge thing all the way back over open sea. But they would have to, for Berk's sake.

I wasn't really looking all that forward to the trip back either, considering eight dragons that would be rather ornery by the time dinner rolled around, especially after hauling half a skull around. I couldn't really blame them either, it wouldn't be the way I'd like to spend my day either, and yet, here we all were. Just one big happy-

"So, you think that this half of the skull will be enough?" Ruffnut shouted over towards me.

"You'd better pray it is." I yelled back.

"We'd all better pray it is," Astrid added, looking up to the sky, pleading to the Gods for their mercy. I felt that we'd need more than that if we didn't get back in time.

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-End Chapter-

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Yes, this chapter is smaller than my other chapters. If you all thought that this chapter would be a super-duper long chapter, I'm sorry to disappoint. Think of this as the last chapter for setting up the end of the story, the next chapter should be full of action. Many characters that have been in this story not mentioned in this chapter will be in the next one.

As usual, please let me know about mistakes. Since it is summer, I will try to get the next update out within two weeks. This is not set in stone, but it's the best I can give you all. Again, another kind of slow chapter, but it is important for the plot (plot? What plot?). Some of you might be kind of let down, after waiting for so long for an update, but I'll be honest, whenever I've seen an author not update for several months and I see a new chapter, I'm dreading that it will be a note saying they've discontinued their story. So no, not stopping on writing this, but eh, that's about all I can say about this chapter.


	15. In the Presence of the Sun

...So, sorry for being gone for so long. I did say that I would finish this story, I apologize that it wasn't in a timelier manner. For some, this chapter might be a bit of a letdown, as you've all been waiting so patiently for the last chapter, maybe hoping for something mind boggling and awesome. While I'll try to make this as awesome as I can, please remember that this story was only supposed to be three chapters, or at least that was the most I ever planned out and I've been playing it by ear ever since the original idea grew so out of hand and stomped all over my hopes of this being a short fic. At least it's just (really) late and not ever? I appreciate all of the support. I thank every reviewer, good and bad, and even those that are luke-warm, for sticking with me, helping me with your critiques, and of course for still reading the story. So without further ado, let's wrap this bad boy up, y/y? Merry Christmas (or whichever holiday is important to you at this time of year!) (also this is the last chapter with an Epilogue that I will post on Tuesday if you guys ask for it?)

Thank you to SkyHighFan for pointing out an error on my part.

Chapter 15: In the Presence of the Sun

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(Hiccup's POV)

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It has been said that sometimes there is a moment in your life that defines everything you are and everything that you will ever be. Some experience it and won't shut up about said experience. Some experience it and will never mention it to anyone, instead choosing to hold it covetously to their breast and away from the rest of the world. Those that haven't experienced it, yearn for the moment when it happens to them. That moment that they can look at, turn this way and that like a piece of ice in the sun and cast little prisms of dawning recognition and snippets of wisdom.

I have felt a moment like that, not very long ago, still fresh enough in my mind's eye to remember it as though it were yesterday. The moment that I realized that not only had I done something that no one else had ever done, but that I was also standing at the precipice of a choice that would change the way my world functioned. Sure, did I know that allowing one Night Fury to live would change practically every miniscule inch of my life and the lives of those around me? No, but I could feel the impact it might have in a distant sort of way and I could sense the intensity of the situation. I could feel it deep in my bones, like the way one can sense a good strong blizzard coming it, the sense of something looming and it raised the hairs on the back of a neck and sent shivers down your spine.

Perhaps I was a lucky boy to have so many of these defining moments. Well, scratch that, I _knew_ I was a lucky boy. Whether it was good luck or bad luck seemed to be the question of the day and the whim of the Gods. I certainly at this point could say that while I felt that my good luck outweighed my bad luck, I certainly had paid dearly for some of the things that I had. The death of my mother was still something painful. It had happened so long ago, but it was one of those aches that never quite left you. It was an ache that seemed to reverberate with a deep numbing sort of anguish. I had never understood what some of the other villagers meant by "phantom pains" the pains of limbs that had long since been missing from their bodies. I didn't understand it until I woke up one morning nearly crying in agony at this painful sensation in my foot, despite the fact that said foot was no longer there. The death of my mother...she was a phantom pain, a piece of my heart had been cut out and would never completely heal nor close, because that was her spot.

It was like the metal foot that I had now, while it was perfectly useful and expertly made, it was still not my original foot and would never be my original foot. That didn't mean that I hadn't come to appreciate it in wholly different ways. This foot couldn't feel pain, I could walk over all sorts of surfaces and not have to stop, and that was how Toothless was to me. He couldn't feel the hole left behind from my mother, but he certainly could fill up the empty lonely spots and ease the pain.

Besides, deciding to allow Toothless to live, I'd also had a moment of clarity when I fought the Queen. The moment when everything else bled away except for the pounding of my own blood in my ears and my heart jack rabbit beating in my throat, but I had **known** what had to be done and the defining moment had been to do exactly what I knew had to be done. I hadn't given more than a passing thought to whether or not I would live, because at that time (and even now) I didn't believe that my life could ever be worth more than those of my relatives and friends. I couldn't spend more than just an instant on whether or not the plan would result in my potential death because the idea of losing everything was too strong and overwhelming to think of anything but _the plan_.

Now, with the whole world reduced to a rolling endless ocean of blue, I could almost feel the apprehension that weighed more heavily than the skull we were transporting. It was an almost tangible feeling, like the feeling of spidersilk on your face or the mist of the morning, light enough to be smoke but just barely heavy enough to leave moisture on your cheeks.

We were flying back blind, without a single idea of what state the Gather would be in, whether or not there was anybody alive to even care that we had returned with proof.

I was aback one of the most wonderful dragons, the wind blowing past my ears and through my hair, and all I could focus on was the sour taste of anxiety and the nervousness that poured off the others in waves. It was too difficult to attempt conversation verbally in the air, the wind was a force that snatched away all words, but I could see the way some of my companions curled about themeselves, their white knuckled grips on their saddles or their reins had little to do with being so high off the ground and everything to do with the state of our tribes.

Gritting my teeth, I clenched my hands around the saddle pack and felt more than heard the rumbling answer from Toothless. I patted the smooth scaled hide of his shoulder and tried to ignore the clenching of my stomach and the way my calves tightened to the point of aching.

We flew on and my eyes saw only the endless blue.

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-Gaggar-

The assassin had failed, not that Gaggar was overtly shocked. It had been such a long shot to begin with and however unsavory it had been to try and use an assassin was overshadowed by the even more unsavory taste of utter failure.

The tall man was not a fool and had not put all his hopes into the assassin succeeding, he'd really only wanted a distraction and it could have been any of the snotty brats at this sorry excuse for a Gather, but it seemed Stoick's thin frail boy was a perfect target.

"Who knew his cousin actually cared?" He spoke this aloud as he casually leaned against a gnarled tree trunk, as though there wasn't a small civil war taking place before his eyes. The sharp green of his eyes seemed to almost gleam in the gloom of the shade, watching those in his field of vision. Like little mindless sheep, those sympathetic to their side followed without question and with very little grumbling.

It was not as though Gaggar had wanted to start a civil war…okay maybe he did, the Vikings of this age seemed to forget who they were, too much "caring" and too much "coddling" in his opinion. He wasn't even that old for Odin's sake! But in the space of his 32 summers, he'd seen nothing but what he believed to be the erosion of Viking culture. Where was the ruthlessness? Where was the blood thirsty desire to rule all they came across? To push and expand their lands? All the other tribe leaders were too soft, too engrossed in child making and living fat while they grew older and softer, not leaner and meaner.

The man swept his eyes across the field and caught the sight of his own spawn edging about on the invisible line between the two sides; which was ridiculous as there should be no line, either you fell in line or you fell to his blade and there was no in between. But there were four leaders gone from the tribe and no amount of pushing would budge those who were still considering themselves neutral.

That little eyesore should have been killed the second he came from his mother's womb making such ungodly shrieks that no human should be able to possess. From the second Gaggar saw the babe open its eyes, he knew it should be put to the sword and given back to Odin. Most children that had light eyes when they were born had an almost milky blue, which he most certainly did have, but the babe's eyes seemed to have an unnatural look to them, unholy and inhuman. He agreed to the Gyoja to allow the babe his first year, for he had no outward defects and yet, his eyes never lost that startling clarity, nor did they settle down into a normal blue, if anything, they became even more unnatural, settling into the color of frozen water in a stream or the sky in early winter before snow and just as bright.

Still he was not permitted to give the child back, he was forbade by the Elders who were not about to let a child go when their clan had so few child births. Yes, they noted his unusual eyes, but were certain that this only meant he was blessed and therefore would be kept safe.

Gaggar hadn't wanted a thing to do with the child, but he was a traditionalist if nothing else and at three began to train the boy as his father had done with him. It was so strange to see the boy pick up on movements so easily, how with such balance and natural grace he managed to swing his blade. It further enforced the idea that he was not something that would be permitted to live.

He was a quiet babe and an even quieter boy, who made few noises and spoke nothing at all. When he turned four, he had at least gained Gaggar's grudging acknowledgement. The boy was a natural with a blade and he was powerful with it. That at least, wasn't so unusual; there were plenty of mighty warriors in the past that had started off as though they were born with a sword in their hand. And just as Gaggar decided that he could tolerate the boy as long as he obeyed and fought for their tribe, the hammer dropped and it was discovered the boy had no voice.

Gaggar gritted his teeth and snarled at the boy, who didn't notice his father's venomous glare. That day he'd almost ended the boy, but the meddling, dear Odin the meddling. How was he to do his job as a proper Viking if he continued to let the Elders make such unsound decisions?

No matter, there was several ways a boy could die on this particular battlefield, and it would be a pleasure to end his mistake.

He pushed off the tree with an ease that seemed almost graceful for a man of his height and reached behind his head to unsheathe his sword. He snarled to Balli as he past the larger brutish man, "That's it, no more waiting, they are either with us or against us, but either way those of the village of Berk will not live past tonight.

Balli seemed rather stunned by the sudden vitriol from the normally quiet man. The black haired man shrugged carelessly, "If you seem so sure, you go ahead first. Some of the other tribes may have no opinion on the matter of Berk, but you can be sure that it won't be just Berk you'll be up against. Aoalvaldr may be as bloodthirsty as you, but he's a stickler for tradition. Huh, kind of like you usually are…

Gaggar snapped at him and crowded close to the other man. Despite being only have the other's size, his presence felt enormous. The two stared each other down for a moment, Balli's eyes flickered ever so briefly away, but it was a concession and Gaggar turned away back toward the direction the villagers of Berk were staying. "We'll see who will come to their aid won't we?"

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-Gloa&Glumr-

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For once, Gloa was not arguing with her brother and for once, he was not attempting to glare daggers at her. Their attention was trained on the village of Berk. Part in shock, because holy Odin, they'd heard rumors that they were in league with dragons but to see it… and also and part because, fuck there were dragons sitting over there!

They had arrived in multitude, their wings all beating together and creating a hurricane of wind. The steady beat of those wings a counter-point to their nervous squawks as they searched for their individual riders. Squawks of worry and joy at seeing one another created a cacophony of noises. The villagers of Berk were both overjoyed and dismayed. Having their dragons here was amazing, a stopping point in case the other villages decided to get them off guard, but the idea of their dragons being slayed along with them was a depressing thought. At the very least the children could be saved by flying away on their dragons.

The dragons themselves had become fed up with waiting about the island; many of them arrived with Terrible Terrors aboard their back, or dragons that couldn't make the long distances. Seeing the Night Fury leave, then the heads of the hierarchy of the dragons on the island leave after that caused many of those left behind to panic and follow behind. Worried that despite their human's assurances that they were being left behind and that thought was almost as terrible as going back to the Queen.

Gloa had thought she was going to pass out from shock and fear when she saw nearly four hundred dragons or more come winging down from the sky. She had thought as first that she was going to be attacked but when they made straight for those from Berk and seeing the over joyed reaction from the villagers she felt something yawning up from deep inside her. That she was witnessing something powerful and amazing and honest to Odin _true_.

That had been a few hours ago and she still couldn't stop staring, taking only comfort in that she at least wasn't the only one. Each dragon found their respective human except for the few that had lost their owner on the sunken ship during the journey, or the two men that had died so far in the skirmish.

That perhaps had been the most amazing thing to see for Gloa, to watch the Nightmare shriek as though she were being killed in the most violent way possible before falling to a huddled wreck near the cold covered body waiting to be buried.

Then she watched in amazement as all the dragons lifted their heads as one and _sang_ in such a way that she felt like crying. It was words, but the way all of them let out such soft roars that seemed to be almost moans of sorrow… she felt as though they were wrapping around her and she shuddered.

Glumr couldn't quite decide for himself what he felt at that moment. Jealously was what shocked him the most, the shock and awe was one thing, but when he saw the first child a few years younger than him clamber onto a scaly back and take off into the sky, swooping only a little bit before landing again, it was something that he wanted. Something that he didn't even know he'd wanted.

He managed to finally tear his gaze away from the multitude of bright colorful dragons, to catch sight of Gaggar the Hound not too far away, his gaze brutal and violent. Glumr shivered at the rage that boiled inside those green irises.

He was just about to open his mouth; to warn off his sister when from behind the two of them his ears caught a noise that sent panic shooting up his spine. That was the sound of a blade unsheathing. He shoved his sister away, ignoring her squawk of indignation and dove the opposite way, the sharp edge of the blade slicing through a few strands of his hair.

He didn't know the boy, well young man, but he knew he was from Gaggar's tribe from the snarling dog emblem that raised up from the hilt of the sword as though it were about to bite its wielder's hand. "What are you doing?" His sister cried in outrage and jumped to her feet, her own sword coming out of its sheath.

She snarled at the man, "This is still a Gather and though there has been a few skirmishes, we aren't even part of the tribe that is part of this," she gestured wildly at the dragons behind her that were beginning to grow anxious, picking up their heads and sniffing at the air, as though their sharp noses could catch the scent of dissent among the humans.

The man paused briefly, "Do you agree with Gaggar and agree to follow us into battle against those who throw away their values as Vikings?"

Glumr felt his mouth drop open in shock, "What are you talking-," he was cut off as the blade swung past him and if he hadn't leaned back it would have swiped his brow.

"Yes or no."

Gloa jumped at the man, her sword aimed at his throat, "How about you fuck off! No one tries to kill my brother but me!"

The two began to clash and Glumr felt his breath catch in his throat as he saw Gaggar's tribe and Balli's tribe had begun to move slowly but surely toward them. His blood rushed up into his ears, like he was swallowed by the ocean. Yesornoyesornoyesorno-

"NO!" He jumped back a little and drew his sword before charging to help his sister.

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-Gudrek-

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Gudrek was nearly beside himself as the shaky peace began to break down. He'd been caught off guard by some of the villagers against Berk and had been terrified (not that he'd ever admit it) that they were going to kill him. He felt compelled to escape though and with all of the chaos, something about 400 dragons turning up, his "guards" had left him unattended.

It hurt, the ropes at his wrists, the way the coarse material dug into the flesh. He couldn't do nothing though, he was a Viking. Sure he was only a boy Viking, but if Hiccup could manage to save his entire village, surely he could keep escape and attept to keep the peace between all of them long enough for his father to return. From the grim look on his Uncle Spitelout's face from earlier though, he didn't feel very reassured.

It had taken sheer will power and the fear of failure to make the boy finally loosen his bonds enough to get his hands free, the blood was everywhere and his wounds stung horrible from the sweat and dirt, but he had managed at least that much. Taking much less time then before, he managed to make his shaking hands untie the tight knots around his ankles.

The boy wasn't sure what their plans had been for him. Surely even with such high tensions they wouldn't have been planning to kill him? Well, whatever they had been thinking, Gudrek wasn't going to be here to find out. He had to get back outside, back to the fight. He started to the door, but paused abruptly when a chill crept up his spine.

Panic and adrenaline spiked up though him, where was his sister? Had they captured her as well? His mother was perfectly capable of looking after herself, but his sister was seven and while she could handle her seaxe, she was no match against a full grown Viking. The idea that someone he was eating with a few days ago would strike down a child was enough to make him gag.

Shoving the door open, he with pain but hobbled quickly out into the open. Thank Odin they hadn't taken his weapon, maybe they figured he'd never have managed to escape. His eyes searched franically for any sight of his sister.

He caught a flash of her white hair in the distance, near the huge crowd of dragons that had arrived a few hours ago. Her fascination with dragons might be a saving grace at this moment. She was as safe, well dragons, as she could be at the moment. Even as he prepared himself for battle, readying his weapons, he felt himself go breathless as the dragons of Berk began to roar in warning at the approaching army. Old instincts began to kick in as Nightmares, Dervishes, Zipplebacks took the front positions, flaring their wings and roaring battle cries that shook the ground. They stood in defiance, stood to defend their humans even if it meant from other humans that wished them harm.

Okay, he was free and he had his weapon. Now all he had to do was-

It was only instinct, honed from years of battle training that made him suddenly jump to the side, to see an axe blade slice down in an arc that would have cleaved off his shoulder. He gasped in shock as he saw Vrangi poised behind him for another swing. The lanky boy looked more and more unsure with each blade swing, but there was a certain amount of resolution gleaming in his cold eyes.

"Vrangi?! What are you doing? I know that we've never gotten along, but-," he gasped and hopped back to dodge another swing. The boy seemed to not have even heard him, "Vrangi stop!"

The boy paused and looked hesitantly behind him. Gudrek followed his line of vision and had to stop the cry of sorrow from his mouth as he saw a boy a year older than him from his village be cut down. Vrangi looked back at Gudrek, his eyes ever more resolute, "I'm sorry Gudrek, you're right. We may squabble, but I am not going to die over you." And he surged forward again.

Gudrek blocked, his stomach rolled and tied itself into knots. Yes, he'd killed others before, but that was in battle against people that weren't Vikings, people that weren't _his_ people. He may dislike Vrangi, he may have fought violently with the other boy, but could he kill him?

For a long moment neither of them moved and everything felt like it had slowed to a crawl. The others about them were no longer even something he could focus on, Gudrek could only focus on the now. The way Vrangi's pale throat swallowed with each of his gasps, the way the boy held his sword reluctantly. The way the very grass on their battlefield was trampled by their restless feet.

He didn't want to, but he wasn't going to die here and leave his sister to fend for herself. Gudrek swung back.

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-General POV-

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What started as 11 separate tribes dissolved into a simple battle of them vs. us. Gaggar, Balli, and Grimi were putting pressure on those that had wanted to wait on the side. They sliced into a few men and that caused outrage among some of those that had family ties and it turned into a free for all. Casualties were minor, considered that the main bulk hadn't met yet, but both sides were closing in on each other. Some tribes were, and the Gods help them for saying such a thing, only thankful that the dragons that did show up really were on the Berkians side.

This, some cried out, should be enough proof for those that didn't believe. This was proof that dragons could and did accept human riders and that both could live in peace. But hatred ran too deep for some and seeing the sight of dragons side by side with fellow Vikings only enraged them.

Gaggar faced up against Banki, he could see the rage and pain in the other man's eyes. At Banki's side was Spitelout, Gobber, and Eyvi. The youth looked more pale than usual and he shaking despite his stance, fighting his father for the right to lead was one thing, apparently it was another to face down a war.

"Stop this now Gaggar. It isn't too late," Spitelout spoke quietly, heard even above the yells and shouts from both sides.

"We will purge you. You are not Vikings, you are men that once were Vikings and it will be a mercy for us to kill you now. A mercy to kill your children now and hope that Hel and Odin will take pity on them for having such weak willed parents!" Balli spat but it lacked conviction and he didn't meet his twin brother's pleading eyes. He didn't need to see the question in their depths, the question of why he was doing such a thing. But when he didn't answer he felt what he could only describe as a break in chest.

"I cannot just accept that dragons were being controlled. Even if they can be tamed, too many have been lost…"

Banki shook his head, "This is not the answer, you say that you can't accept the dragons because they have killed too many of us, but you are about to raise a sword against your own family? How will killing all of us bring back those that are lost?"

"If you kill us, you'll be no better than th' dragons, boy," Gobber shook his head, his eyes dead serious.

Balli felt his resolve weaken slightly; the throb in his chest was distracting. Ever since they were children, he'd always been aware of his brother, they were twins, two from one. He started to lower his weapon. Grimi growled from his side, "You put your sword back up and get ready to fight, because if it's not against them it's going to be against me!"

Before anyone could respond an enormous white skull fell from the sky with a resounding crash. It scents and the memories it brought with it was enough to send the dragons into a squalling screaming mess. Stomping the ground with rage and fear the dragons reared and their riders struggled to calm them.

The dust that skull disrupted when it hit the ground began to settle and there was complete silence before Gobber coughed, "Good, you brought it back…well most of it."

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-Hiccup's POV-

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I knew it. The instant that I arrived over the island I could feel it in my bones that something terrible had gone wrong. And it wasn't just the way that the thick clouds hung about us in such thick clinging masses. My uncle gasped and without even thinking about it, managed to urge the Nightmare to go faster. This created the problem of one dragon from the back trying to cross ropes with those in front of her and within a few minutes the dragons from the pens, not used to flying in formation, tried to break ranks. Ugh, now's he done it, I understood his desire to hurry, but this was only going to slow us up.

We managed to hover awkwardly, but it was in vain. I felt Toothless strain to handle the sudden uneven weight. "Just a little further Toothless, you can do it!"  
I heard the others follow my lead and plead with their dragons, to encourage them to try to make it a little farther along. I wanted to put the skull in the Gather field, it would show them all-

I gasped in horror and had to blink my eyes shut briefly against the sight of all the tribes facing off. I could see from my vantage a few fighting and even the brilliant red of life giving blood spilt, I could only hope that there weren't many casualties. I heard my uncle and father roar as one and Toothless dipped even further. "Drop it Toothless, drop it!"

He valiantly managed the glide the rest of the way and began to claw frantically at the ropes. I saw Astrid even take out her seaxe and begin to saw back and forth furiously at the rope that she could reach.

Within a few seconds I felt the ropes give way and watched breathlessly as it dropped to the ground. The silence left it the wake of it hitting the ground was louder than anything I'd ever heard before.

I clenched the saddle in helpless frustration, if we'd been back a little sooner…

I angled Toothless down and felt more than saw the others do the same. Before we had even touched the ground my father was off the Nightmare and not too far behind him was Shield. The sighs and gasps of relief was a testimony to how just having the other leaders back was enough to settle many.

"What is going on here!?" My dad yelled in fury.

I flinched at the sound of rage in my father's voice. I hadn't heard that tone in such a long time, not since he'd nearly disowned me…

For a long moment, no one answered him before Gaggar stood tall and brought his chin up. "I will not let this go. I will not make peace with those beasts."

Shield pushed passed his brother, every inch of him rippling with the struggle to control his temper. I could only imagine him as a dragon, and wow maybe it was time to re-think exactly how much time I spent with the winged creatures, but he looked every inch a Nightmare as he faced Gaggar.

"You! You dare?! You dare insult my family; you dare insult the very Gods by inciting such a battle upon ground declared a place of peace for our clans? And then you stand there and lecture us about abandoning our values as Vikings? Do you see me pointing a blade at my kin?"

I was worried for my uncle, his face was so red with rage that it was close to turning purple and I didn't know how Gaggar could stand so unflinching in front of such a force. They didn't call my father the Vast and his brother Shield for no reason at all, those two were built like moving boulders.

A new cry of anger and anguish came from our right. I turned to see Vakr looking despondently at a body lying on the ground not too far from him. He scrambled to the man and dropped to his knees beside it, rolling the man over to see his face, "Eirik? Eirik answer me!"

I looked down at my mismatched feet unable to continue looking at the sad sight, because Eirik was one of Vakr's shield brothers, those that he had fought with and had taken wounds in battle for. I heard that those two had been friends and brothers in everything but actual blood.

Vakr heaved himself up from the ground and his sudden wrath seemed even greater than that of my father and uncle's combined. His sword was out of its sheath before I could blink and he was clashing with Gaggar a half an instant later. "I'll kill you! I swear it on Skadi!"

The two met in a fury of blades before my father grabbed Gaggar and my uncle grabbed Vakr, "Vakr, calm down, he's not dead!"

I blinked and gazed over at the man who was being already carried away by Gyoja. They must have deemed it safe enough to enter the battlefield with so many leaders now returned.

My father glared down darkly at Gaggar who grimaced back at him. "That is certainly enough! I have had enough of this squabbling."

I watched as my uncle stepped forward and spoke in what I had termed "the leader is speaking now" voice. "What has become of us? This is a Gather, a time of peace and relaxation amongst our tribes. You wanted proof? We brought proof. Now is the time to stop our squabbling. As always, our blades should only be raise to our enemies and not our kin and friends."

"You are neither!" Grimi spat, apparently the man had found his voice after getting over the shock of such a huge dragons (half) skull dropping in so suddenly.

I couldn't stand it, I moved forward and drew his attention, "We are not your enemies, and we have never been your enemies. I know how crazy it is," I felt my lips twitch into a bitter smile, "believe me, but please, we are ripping ourselves apart! You ask why we didn't come to you before now. Here is your answer," I spread my arms wide to gesture to the field. The tables were smashed and destroyed. The wounded were being picked up but their blood remained pooled behind. Games and that were setting out were upturned and the whole scene looked like some macabre scene from a nightmare.

"I didn't mean for all of this to happen, when I saved Toothless, but I'm glad! Glad I saved him. We defeated the Queen that was putting pressure on the other dragons to hunt so often and because of her death not only is every Viking that much safer, but the dragons have been invaluable and part of our family. I'm not asking you to live with them; I'm not asking you to even like them. I know that there is bad blood between us. I am one of those that have lost someone to an attack," I felt my eyes slip close at the memory of my mother but a nudge at my side made me open them. And green met green. I felt that tight feeling that had been gripping my heart ease a little, I breathed a little more easily and I smiled at Toothless, "Thanks Buddy."

I looked up again, gathering my courage, because here was that moment that I had felt earlier. Here was where I was defined by my actions. I drew myself up to my full height, "I haven't forgotten my mother. She was someone that I will always hold close and look up to," I felt my eyes slide to my father and he seemed almost misty eyed but nodded, "I will always hold her memory close. But she used to say I was a lot like her, so I can't imagine that she would be against having dragons and if I can forgive, than so can you."

I hesitated a little now; faltering and I couldn't help but glanced at my friends, to Astrid's pretty face, her fierce determination shining through her incredible eyes. To Snotlout's sturdy stance, his unshakable trust in me and his easy strength. To Fishlegs, who clenched his fists with conviction. Tuffnut was looking back at me when our eyes met and he grinned enjoying both the show and the speech. His sister smacked him upside the head but gave me her own encouraging smile, her eyes shining with hope that I could pull us through. And finally my gaze connected with Toothless, my brave partner that hadn't let me down yet.

"Please, no more fighting. Even if we are separate tribes, we are all Vikings and we are all family. Even above dragon fighting the Vikings have one main rule and it's that family is the most important."

I saw many shaking their heads in agreement. Others who looked stern but had no more interest in fighting then the next, most just looked relieved. The Gather was starting to find a semblance of balance.

Grimi looked at me closely, "So you're the one that started this then? You and that Night Fury?"

I smiled, glad that I was getting through to him, "Yeah I was."

"DIE!"

I was so shocked by his sudden lurch that I could only put my arms up in defense. My father yelled my name but was still too far away holding Gaggar and my uncle couldn't get to me in time. The gasps of shock and disbelief were drowned out by Toothless as he roared so violently that I felt my bones shake. He leapt in front of me and his claws raked at Grimi who screamed in pain and it through his thrust off, the man's sword clanked off his hard scales. The sword's tip scraped and scrabbled along the hard scale until in found a weak point near where the leg connected to the shoulder and sank in.

The man may have been dying or already dead but I felt my vision go red and would you believe it? It took a dragon, my dragon, getting injured to throw me into a Viking blood rage. I don't even remember drawing my blade until my vision was clearing and I was sitting on Grimi's body, the sharp edge an inch from his left eye.

Toothless was crooning reassuringly at me and it was in that moment that I could feel every eye at the Gather on me. I was wrong, the moment from earlier? That was not my defining moment, _this_ was. I hissed at Grimi. "You listen to me right now. I don't care if you're older than me. I don't care if you are a leader or not. I only care about what the next answer is out of your mouth. Will you give up? Will you stop trying to make war between us?"

The man nearly spoke without even a moment's hesitation, but the sharp point of my axe was hovering too close and the nearly sub-vocal growls that Toothless was making made him re-think his options. It felt like an eternity before he finally looked away, a snarl on his lips, "Yes, I'll stop I won't attack you again."

I glared at him as I rocked back off of him, watching him carefully. I wasn't about to trust him a second time and as I stepped back, Uncle Spitelout came up swiftly and grasped the man securely so he wouldn't be getting away, if he lived from the raking he got from Toothless' claws. I wouldn't kill him, but I also wasn't going to pray for his good health either.

I watched my Uncle Shield stand tall and with a booming voice, address the whole crowd. "Please, sheath your weapons, this matter will be taken care of, but now is the time to calm our heads and try to mend our bonds," he looked away, his careful mask of calm cracking to show his true grief, "if we can."

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I won't lie and say it was exactly what I wanted, but it was more than I'd hoped for when I saw that many families were gathering to make sense of what had happened in the past few days. It wasn't going to be pretty, but it would work because I saw more faces look relieved than I saw of anger or resentment. It had to work because I couldn't imagine our lives if it didn't work.

I didn't have much time to think about it because I was busy trying to staunch the flow of blood that Toothless was losing from his wound. I wasn't as deep as I thought it was, but it was going to require stitches and some pretty words of coaxing to get Toothless to let the Gyoja tend to his wounds.

I had seen my father and what remained of the leader haul Gaggar, Grimi, and Balli away, most likely they would be in talks for the rest of the day. For good reason too, even though Gaggar wasn't particularly loved by his tribe, there was no better as of right now to take over. And Grimi was even liked mostly by his tribe, but you can bet that he trying to take a slash at me had caused him to slip a few notches. Not because of me specifically, but trying to kill an unarmed and unaware child was something that only the lowest of scum would do (apparently) and it would not take too much pushing from the other leaders to force the second in command to take leadership until Gromr was old enough or proved to be unfit to lead.

I studied those that I recognized and could see as I held Toothless, soothing him as a woman with quick skillful hands sewed up his wound. Vrangi was slinking around, his normal group that followed him like duckling had been told off moments ago before my eyes and now the boy was making his way over to a sturdy tree before he collapsed on the ground and leaned against it.

From the direction he came I saw my cousin limp toward his sister where she fretted over a slash wound on his chest. It must not have been deep, because the healer looked at it for only for a few seconds before she shooed him off with some of the numbing paste she'd been slathering on a man with a stab wound.

I was so engrossed by my people watching that I didn't even notice when Gromr walked up to me, his entire body bent as though his shame had physical weight. Toothless smacked me with the back of his tail and I turned to huff at him when I saw the other boy.

I felt bad for him, I maybe not have been in the same situation, but I knew what deep shame felt like. The kind of shame that made you wish you could bury yourself somewhere and never come back out. I gave him my best smile and it was genuine, it wasn't his fault that his father had chosen to do what he did. "Hey Gromr, sit with me?"

The boy looked flat out shocked, but accepted a seat beside me. "Hiccup-," he began, but stopped floundering helplessly.

I patted his knee even as my other hand scratched at Toothless on the head, the huge dragon stretching out like a huge cat and if he could purr he'd have been doing so.

"Hey Toothless?"

Toothless opened one sleepy eye and gurgled at me, reprimanding me for waking him from his doze. "Oh don't lie, you were awake the whole time."

The dragon huffed but tilted an ear to listen. "What do we do to people who blame themselves for things they can't control?"

The coal black dragon gave me a sly look even as the tip of his tail rose up and smacked Gromr in the back of the head, "Ouch!" he cried looking incredulously at the dragon.

Before he even thought about it, he reached out and whacked Toothless back, which I'm sure the lazy beast couldn't feel through his tough armor of scales, but he pretended like he was dying and I couldn't help but laugh at Gromr's distressed face, "It's okay, he's only joking." I poked his side and the dragon huffed but went back to trying to nap.

I leaned back and gazed at the sky, "I'm sorry Gromr, and I don't know what's going to happen to your father. If he'll live or if he won't and I'm sorry that I can't say I'm sorry that he's injured. But if you want, you can always come visit us in Berk, if you ever need to get away for a while."

I smiled at him, feeling for him and understanding. The plain boy looked back and nodded before he stood up, brushed himself off and walked away.

I dropped one hand down to the smooth head of Toothless, "You doing okay Buddy?"

The dragon gurgled reassuringly at me and nuzzled my leg, "You saved me again." I felt both happy that he cared so much but also so useless, but before I could sink further into such thoughts, he smacked me with his tail again. "Hey, what was that for? Oh…"

He pointed his tail at him, between the two of us before pointedly looking down at his tail fin. We both stared at it before he looked at me, willing me to understand, "…I saved you?"

He gave me that grin that made the last of the aching in my heart ease and I grinned back, "Yeah, we'll be okay won't we?"

And would be. I felt like a fool grinning so broadly, but as Astrid walked over I couldn't help as my joy bubbled over. She gave me that smirk, crossing her arms and cocking a hip, "Did it again, didn't you Dragon Boy?"

"I guess we did, right Toothless?" A snore was all that answered me. She came closer and sat down close to me, her body warmth seeping into my aching muscles and between her and Toothless I began to feel a little drowsy myself. She leaned her head on my shoulder and I thought my face was going to break, because seriously a few years ago I could only dream about this. No wait, that wasn't entirely true, my dreams never came close to how crazy but great my life was. It had its bad times, but with Astrid at my side, a great dragon on my other side, and my friends slowly making their way over to me I could appreciate the good times.

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Exile or learn to deal with dragons. Those were the only two options for those being held. While Gaggar, Grimi, and Balli had not made all the blows that had injured and even killed some of the other people from the other tribes, they were the leaders and considered the instigators. However, leniency was only on terms that the three would make reparations to the families they'd injured by the fight as well as swearing an oath that they would not bring any more harm against the tribes in response to the majority decision to allow Berk to remain one of the tribes. Some of the tribes were even willing to attempt to keep a few dragons, but Stoick was sure that a few would turn into "we're overrun" soon enough.

As expected Balli relented and asked for the second option, he knew he'd injured the bond between him and his brother as well as their tribes, but hopefully he could attempt to repair the damage. He had been so furious and had let his rage get to him, he still wasn't happy about the dragons, but if it meant being exiled he would always choose to remain with his family.

The question was what to do with Grimi and Gaggar. Gaggar was most certainly the ringleader even if Stoick couldn't prove it, but Grimi had tried to take the life of his son and that was usually punishable by death. The Gyoja had done what they could but the claws had gone deep and it was unsure if he would live. It wouldn't do to kill him now though, because Hiccup who had every right to kill the man, had shown him mercy, which considering his track record Stoick wasn't even surprised anymore. Which means that Shield felt obligated to at least try to make sure the man received adequate care. That left banishment and exile. It was a tough thing to swallow, banishing and exiling two leaders, no matter how disliked or liked they were, but when asked what they chose stony silence was all he got.

So, exile then. They would remain here for the night and in the morning he would have Gaggar trussed up and thrown on the back of a dragon to be dropped off somewhere far away. Grimi would recover, or he wouldn't and then he would face his punishment as well. Shield sighed as he went to get Gaggar's immediate family. There were some things that he hated about his job as a leader and this was pretty much at the top.

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-Gallin and his mom-

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Gallin wasn't afraid as they brought him in. He had fought against his own tribe and he knew that this wasn't the reason he was being taken to the main hall. He knew it was because of the Leader. He knew this because his mother was with him, her face sunken from pain and weariness. She felt his eyes on her and sighed, she stopped in the hall and looked down at her son, her mouth set in a firm line, but her eyes were gentler.

"Gallin, my son, when we go in there, whatever he say, know that while I have not always been the best mother I could have been, I would never let him kill you."

Gallin blinked, because this was strange. His mother had never outright hurt him, or ignored him, but she had never been necessarily warm either. He couldn't understand the shift, but he flinched slightly when he felt her hand rest lightly on her shoulder.

He heard her intake of breath and the soft sound of a sob, "Frigga will punish me for not being a better mother to you Gallin, but I made sure he never killed you…"

He didn't know what she wanted of him, but he reached up and put a hand over hers. She looked down at him through her tears, "I'm sorry Gallin, I'm so sorry."

He smiled at her awkwardly, not sure of whether or not this was the correct response and when she reached out and drew him to her, he panicked slightly. But when he realized she was not going to hurt him, he felt something inside him give a little; he'd always wanted her to hold him like this, the way other mother's held their children…

The hug didn't last long, perhaps she sensed that her son was unsure and uncomfortable with her sudden touch and she cursed herself even more. She'd tried so hard to take the abuse off of him, to make it seem like she cared the same for him as Gaggar did. To be there when her husband was in a rage to shield the boy from him, to plead with the Elders for her son's protection. But she would change this, as soon as that man was sent packing the better. Her son would not go another day without him knowing that she cared for him. She swore to Odin and Frigga that she would be better, that she would do better.

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As Gallin stood in front of his leader, the man wouldn't even meet his eyes. He glared at his wife, at the slim and almost skeletal hand she had on his shoulder, "Whore, I should have let you die in your village."

She ignored him and his words, she merely bowed her head and in a monotone voice she spoke, "Thank you for your service, may you go with Odin, my husband." But her eyes were dead as she spoke it, no warmth or any genuine prayer to be had for the vile man in front of her.

Then Gaggar finally looked at the boy and Gallin jumped at his hateful glare. "You, I should have killed you years ago," the man whispered, "Unholy spawn touched by Skaldi." He turned his eyes away and said nothing more.

Stoick looked at the two sadly; Shield shook his head and sighed. Some people…they would never learn.

Gallin felt his mother touch his back and again he jumped, but only slightly this time. He felt her gently push at him to leave the room and with each step that took him away from the man that he had once longed to call father the feeling of hate died more and more. But he knew he'd never be fully free of that man, because Gallin wasn't a stupid boy.

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-end of chapter-

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Skaldi: the God of winter and of the hunt. She is the Goddess of Justice, Vengeance, and Righteous Anger. Called on once for vengeance, but again because of her icy colors.

Frigga: Odin's wife and considered mother to all. She is the protectoress of children which is why Gallin's mother is prayer for both her forgiveness and her rightful punishment.

Alright, epilogue in a few days, I promise promise promise. I want to get this done before my birthday so you can all have a present from me. A complete story! If you see any big errors let me know. Again, I'm sorry if some people felt that this fell flat, I really tried to make it the best I could. Thank you so much for being there! It would mean a lot if you would tell me what you thought of this chapter and what you'd like to see in the epilogue… again so sorry for the long wait!


	16. Full Circle

Okay, here is my promised epilogue. Please enjoy it and thank you so much for your continued support!

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Chapter 16 Full Circle

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I don't think I could ever put into words how incredibly good it felt when my feet touched ground back on our island. It was like taking a breath of cool refreshing air after being stuck in the smoke of a camp fire.

I resisted the urge to fall down on my face and just breathe, that seemed a bit too dramatic, but it was a close thing. Behind me I heard Toothless vocalizing his own sounds of contentment. There really wasn't anything, short of flying, that could compete with the feeling of coming back home. A place that was safe filled with people that didn't want to kill me, my family, and me best friends.

My feelings of joy were slightly diminished though, by the somber atmosphere. It was too bad that the Gather hadn't been what it should have been. A time of joy and a time for families to meet. Once only seven years, it was depressing to think that some people's last Gather was one of such discord. But on a happier note, people were slowly adjusting to the idea of dragons, and it wasn't such a leap of intelligence to know that travel would be much easier, maybe families could start seeing each other more often than just every seven years. There was another reason for said somber mood, Grimi the Grim had died from his wounds sustained from Toothless.

I felt remorse over the man's death. He had never seemed so bad, a little too much drinking and fighting, but over all not a terrible guy. My heart went out to Gromr. I couldn't even imagine what I would feel and how I would react if my father acted as his father had and than had been killed before my eyes. My father would never had done such a thing, but then again, maybe Gromr had thought the same thing.

I felt Toothless nudging my side, eager to see me up and moving closer to our home. I sighed and stood up trying to shake the gloom off, there was more happy news to note. Several children from the Gather had decided to travel back with the villagers of Berk.

Several parents had been reluctant, but eventually gave in because there were rumors flying about, no idea who started it, that the children who came to Berk from other tribes might receive a dragon. And if they didn't receive a dragon, then they were at least in "line" to receive an egg.

I already had an idea of who I thought would be able to handle a dragonet the thought of Gallin, while young, nurturing an egg was a warming thought. The boy was lost right now. His mother seemed to have a complete about face when it came to how she treated her son. In her husband's, er _absence_, she had taken over the affairs of her tribe, effectively taking the name Mjoll the Keeper. She had made it quite clear that no more harm would come to her son, that children like him would be kept safe from harm and that things were going to change around the tribe. He had lost his father, though he seemed to care less about the loss of Gaggar as a father than Gaggar as the leader. He didn't know where he stood and I felt that the time he spent here would only help him. He needed time to get his thoughts together, time to heal and forgive his mother, though I could see he still loved her despite her lack of care. I could also see her relief that her son was willing to give their relationship another chance.

It was funny that the other Vikings from other tribes thought that it would be a simple thing to train and raise a dragon. That they were just going to pick one up in the middle of the woods or from here and be on their way with them.

The problem was that no one knew exactly how to care and train their dragon. I smiled at the thought, they had looked to me and to my tribe for teaching, sending a few children from each tribe to learn and bring the knowledge back, hopefully on the back of a dragon of some sort.

I talked it over with the tribe heads, explaining that it would take at least a month for those sent to our tribe to learn even the basics, but Fishlegs had been working hard on abunch of manuals he could send back. He asked me what I thought the title should be, also for excerpts to put in the book, I told him that Vikings liked simple titles so he should probably name it something straight to the point. How to Train Your Dragon seemed about as plain and straight to the point as it could get.

I looked forward to training the kids, mating season was coming up and I knew that the dragons would be just as encouraging in their own offspring to learn how to get along with us Vikings. I was suspcious, Gods how could I not after all of the infighting from the past few days? But I was also cautiously hopeful that the other tribes would someday come to few dragons as friends than as creatures that suddenly had more use then target practice.

Ragna and Swanwhite were chattering happily behind me, eager to start their training, eager to get back up in the air. I was please with Swanwhite's new attitude, she seemed like a whole different girl. Gudrek, however, seemed rather pale at the thought of being so far off the ground. He also had changed, if only in the way that he didn't sneer at me when I passed by, but it was a start and that was worth something.

Yeah, basically all of the Ehrehad ended up coming back with us. The villagers seemed to agree, as well as the leaders still alive, that if anyone should learn how to work with dragons, how to care and raise them, it should be those that were potentially going to someday lead the tribe.

Eyvi couldn't attend with us, as a new leader he couldn't spare the month that it would take for him to learn about dragons, but I spoke with him and offered to meet him in the future months to train him out where his tribe lived, so that he could experience the wonder that was dragons.

I looked forward to the excitement the upcoming days would bring. I already knew that I would divide the kids up, because even a few kids from each of the tribes meant that there were quite a few. Astrid would lead a group, she had such natural skills when it came to leading and keeping such short attention spans on track. Snotlout too, was showing great promise in his ability to take the reigns. I would arrange for Fishlegs to have a class to discuss growth and proper care of their potential dragon. The twins were incharge of aerial tricks and formation training. I only hope that it would be actual learnign and not just tumbling about in the air for kicks.

And the first grumble I heard about "learning and studying" I was going to introduce them to Toothless. Or maybe my father's Nightmare.

I took a deep breath and gently smoothed my hand over Toothless head. "Well Buddy, ready to teach these kids what it means to a villager of Berk?"

A breath of fire was my answer.

"Thanks pal," I coughed, but there wasn't any heat to my reply and I couldn't stop the infectious grin that spread across my lips.

I am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third and training humans and dragons alike was my job.

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-End-

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I chose the name Mjoll because it was a common name for women and I chose "the keeper" part of her name because I feel that she would try to be a woman that would keep the children of her tribe more safe, this is her personal pledge. I apologise in advance if there are anybody else with a name similar, it wasn't intended.

I hope you guys enjoyed this. Thank you for all of your kind reviews and support!


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